HalfBreed
by cadywise
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto has nothing, knows no one and is hated by everyone. And the one thing he thought they could never take from him, they did. So now he’s left to fend for himself in a place where his kind is not welcome. SASUNARU AND MPREG GOODNESS!
1. Friend or Foe

**Warning YAOI i.e. boyxboy Love it? Then welcome Hate it? Then…Bye**

**Disclaimer: Can't own what Sasuke does.**

**Well...this is another fic as you can see. A more thought out fic I might add. Hope to get much further than I did the last one and much faster too. So yeah enjoy.**

**ONWARDS!! **

********************************* FRIEND OR FOE? ***************************************

"Three of our men are already down."

"Shit, this thing is fast."

"That's why they have to be stopped. Let's move out men."

********************************* FRIEND OR FOE? ***************************************

"Calm down, calm down."

The angry voices of the town's people echoed throughout the room which only resulted in utter chaos.

"Oi...hey..." the big breasted blonde could feel a vein bursting. "BE QUITE!!!!"

All mouths shut and all eyes turned to her.

"Now, one person tell me what is the problem this time."

One man from the crowd stood up from his chair, "It's the nuisance kid. We need to do something about him."

A heavy sigh passed from the blonde's lips as she poured herself some sake. 'I can't deal with this so early in the morning.'

"What has he done this time?"

"He has made a mockery of our founders." One woman shouted in anger.

"He shows no respect for the people of this village," another complained.

"Tsunade-sama," said person glanced to her left at the silver haired man beside her. "It would appear that he used paint to draw on the statues at the entrance of the village."

"That idiot is he trying to get himself killed," she muttered to herself while downing another cup of sake.

"Well, what would you have me do?" she already figured the nonsense they'd say but it was in her job description to ask...

"Imprison him!"

"Execute him!"

"Exile him!"

...and it was also in her job description to ignore them.

"Listen, I'll have him clean the statue then put him under heavy surveillance."

The room immediately filled with disagreements and complaints.

"QUIET!" she slammed her palms on the wooden desk and it groaned at the force of her blow. "What I say is final. Now leave, all of you."

Half-heartedly they turned to leave all the while discussing amongst themselves the Hokage's lenience for the boy. None the less, her word was the law.

"Jeez," she sat back in her chair arms folded. "That brat always gives me the worst headaches. Shizune!"

A few seconds later a brunette stumbled hurriedly into the room.

"Yes Tsuande-sama?" she asked while straightening her dress.

"Get Iruka for me."

********************************* FRIEND OR FOE? ***************************************

Why do I have to be the one to do this?" the blond asked while scrubbing away at the red paint.

"Idiot you were the one that made this mess," Iruka scowled from his spot under a nearby tree.

"I just thought they could use a bit of colour. Is that a crime?" His cheeks were puffed out cutely reminding Iruka of a baby fox.

"Naruto, you and I both know that what you did was extremely disrespectful. Not only to the founders, but to the people living here as well."

"Yeah yeah."

"Naruto I'm being serious. You're 15 don't you think you're too old for such idiotic pranks."

There was silence for a few minutes before Naruto mumbled an "I'm sorry" and continued his cleaning.

Two hours later he stepped back to view his complete work.  
"There done." Looking over at Iruka who had long been asleep he smiled a little.

"Iruka-san, Oi Iruka-san wake up I'm done." He gently kicked the man succeeding in rousing him.

"About time." He yawned and stretched but made no move to stand up.

"Are you going to stay here all night? Get up." He pulled on his arm and lifted the sleepy male.

Iruka wobbled over to the statue to expect the job Naruto had done.

"Hmm, not bad. Hopefully no one notices the spots you neglected."

The boy gave a sheepish grin while scratching his nose, "Yeah, that part was way too hard to scrub off. My hands feel like jelly now."

The other rolled his eyes and motioned for Naruto to gather the cleaning tools.

"Let's get these back to Tsunade-sama and you'll give a proper apology for your disturbance."

"You're harsh Iruka-san."

"Yeah yeah."

********************************* FRIEND OR FOE? ***************************************

"Well brat," Tsunade cradled her head in one hand.

Looking down at his feet Naruto responded, "Sorry granny-sama."

"Call me that again and I'll castrate you."

Naruto took a step back...so did Iruka.

"Thank you for your hard work Iruka. You are dismissed."

He bowed slightly before exiting the office. Naruto looked at everything but the woman in front of him and she looked and nothing but him.

"Naruto please I am begging you, stop causing trouble. Don't give those idiots more reason to hate you."

"I don't even know why they hate me in the first place but I'm really sorry granny and I'll try to stop from now on."

"You're always sorry and you always say you'll stop." She signed and looked to the ceiling. "I wish I knew when to actually believe you."

Naruto remained silent. The truth hurt more than he wanted to admit.

"Jeez, you're so hard to deal with kid, but at least you keep me entertained." She laughed softly while motioning him closer.

She handed him a bag of coins, "I know you've been looking for a job and I know those bastards have been giving you a hard time. I told you not to worry about that."

"But I wanna make my own money. I can't keep taking from you."

"Naruto I told you it's fine."

The boy pouted but gratefully took the bag and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"TSUNADE-SAMA!" Shizune soon came bursting through the doors looking like a terrified deer.

"What is it?"

"The villagers, they said they spotted some of '_them' _near the entrance."

"They what?!" she jumped from her chair and stormed out of the office.

"Naruto stay here. Do not leave this building. Shizune keep an eye on him", with that she went out into the night.

"But I have to inform the others", the brunette mumbled to herself. "I'll be right back Naruto-kun. Please don't move." In the back of her mind she knew it was futile.

A mischievous grin was plastered on his face, "Yeah sure."

********************************* FRIEND OR FOE? ***************************************

"This way This way!!!"

"Over here!"

Shouts and pounding feet ruined the silence of the night.

"How many are there?" one man asked ducking behind a tree.

"I don't know, it could be 3 or 4." Another replied as he grabbed a hand full of arrows and dashed into the night leaving the other to fend for himself.

"Shit." The man slowly rose from position, surveying the area nervously before taking a few steps.

"Crap why'd it have to be night out. Why don't battles ever take place during the day?" He mumbled to himself as he crept across the forest floor. "I hate this place."

The sound of leaves crunching to his left made him nervously swing in the direction, bow in hand. He slowly backed away only to hear the same noise inches behind him, freezing his movements instantly. A low growl echoed around him as the man turned to face the invader.

"Shit."

Between the shadows of trees was a pair of fiery red eyes staring at him mockingly, waiting for his next move. He grabbed an arrow quickly and brought his bow up to the enemy with shaky hands.

"Stay ba-back." He tried to sound fearless and failed.

The eyes seemed to glisten in amusement. The man took aim and pulled back on the arrow before releasing…a mile away from the target. A curse flew from his mouth and he hurried to ready another one but in a flash razor sharp teeth had embedded themselves into the jugular vein of the man and with one final scream his limp form fell defeated.

Somewhere in the forest a mop of blond hair bounced between trees and bushes making a beeline for the source of the scream. He skidded to a stop when he came to a clearing with a dark figure lying carelessly on the dirt.

"H-hey are you ok?" he took a few tentative steps closer but realizing that person wasn't responding took a few more steps and stopped at the suspicious looking liquid pooling from under the man. Curious, he bent down to view it closely and gasped as realization hit him. Making his was over to the body he turned the man unto his back horrified at the scene beneath him.

"Oh my God." Turning his head from the site he hunched over as nausea took over him. With shaky legs he rose up fully intent on heading back to the village and leaving this mess. He turned around, took one step and stopped. From the small rays of moonlight that were allowed to pass through the tree leaves he could vividly see the huge beast in front of him. Fangs bared eyes red and growling. He suddenly wished he had been obedient and stayed in the comfort of the village.

He gasped when the large creature took a step towards him and automatically stepped back. He could feel warm trails along his cheeks and knew he was crying. The creature continued to move forward and he continued to move back.

"P-please don't hurt me. I'm sorry for coming out here." His voice was shaky and pleading and it amused the creature.

"_Well_ _well well, it seems I caught a cute sheep. My favourite kind of prey_." He snickered as the boy tripped backwards on the dead body he had dealt with earlier.

"Please spare me?"

The beast laughed at the child's persistence and moved forward circling the new prey.

"_Your begging won't help you here boy_," he reduced the size of the circle and watch how the boy trembled as he got closer.

"_I'll be sure to make this as painless for you as possible."_ And he crouched down ready to strike.

The blond let out a horrified scream as he made a mad scramble to get up. As the creature lunged towards him he threw himself to the ground narrowly missing his claws but injuring his shoulder blade.

"_Running will do you no good boy_," he spun and charged at him again, mouth open ready to sink his teeth into the flesh before him.

Another scream as he tried to push himself off the ground but failing as pain took over his body and his arms gave out. He shuffled until he was firmly pressed against a tree and brought his arms up in a last attempt to shield himself as he waited for death he knew was coming. But the sound of a whimper brought this attention back to the scene ahead as he looked to see his attacker pinned to the ground by a bigger, scarier black monster. He didn't know whether to he happy or scared at this point. And as the new creature's red eyes turned to gaze at him he flinched and pushed himself further back into the tree hoping it would swallow him.

"_This human has done nothing to us. He's only a child."_ The dark beast growled angrily as he pressed the other more into the dirt.

"_Does it matter? He will when he becomes a man. I'm just reducing the number of future soldiers the humans will have."_

"_It is not you who decides his fate."_ Finally releasing him from his hold the black beast moved over to the boy at the tree.

"_Why show compassion to a human? This war is all their doing."_ The grey beast rose from the ground and shook itself of dust.

"_We can't blame every human for the mistakes of his ancestors besides we have to retreat the humans are bringing reinforcements. We'll fight another day gather the others."_

"_Tch whatever._" And with that he dashed into the darkness.

"_Are you okay?"_ Naruto looked up to see the swirling red eyes staring down at him and subconsciously moved back.

"_Don't be scared I won't hurt you."_ The creature dared to step closer. _"Are you injured?"_ he asked upon seeing the blood trails running down his arm.

"O-oh my a-arm got hur-Ah! What are you doing?" he jumped when the creature's wet nose rubbed against his arm and pulled away from him.

"_It's ok I'm only looking at it. Let me see."_

Naruto chewed on his lip anxiously but none the less held out his shaky arm and squeezed his eyes shut.

He heard the deep chuckles beside him before the other spoke, _"This might be a little uncomfortable."_

"Hm? Whoa!" a feeling similar to numerous volts of electricity danced along his arm and numbness followed soon after.

"My arm feels strange." He whispered more to himself than to the individual before him.

"_Sorry about that it'll feel better in awhile_" and he rose from position. "_But you should leave here now. This is not a safe place for you."_

"Oh right yeah." Naruto rose to his feet quickly flexing his arm around surprised that the pain had completely left him.

"_Human you must promise me that you won't return to this forest. Promise me."_

"Ok I promise." The blond shifted his eyes elsewhere as he thanked the creature for his help and bowed slightly in respect. Spinning around he prepared to leave the way he came.

"Oh and my name is not human, it's Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

"_Well then Uzumaki Naruto. May we never meet again." _

With a wave and a smile Naruto headed back for the village unaware that his most precious possession had been lost to the world he would never return to.

********************************* FRIEND OR FOE? ***************************************

Slender fingers slid over the beautiful blue crystal as it reflected rays of moonlight from it's smooth surface and brightened the dark space. The figure smiled as the blue from the crystal reminded him of the blue eyes of the one he had previously met.

"Uzumaki Naruto was it. Shall I return your necklace?"

********************************* FRIEND OR FOE? ***************************************

**OMAKE! Well that's it, the end of the 1****st**** chapter of a new story. Tell me what you think k. I will make no promises concerning the date of the next chapter. So....bye!!**


	2. The Second Encounter

**Warning: May cause yaoi addiction (boyxboy) but if you're hear you already know that**

**Disclaimer: Letter to Kishimoto: I would like to buy the claims for your lovely story.**

** The response: #&* you!!!**

…**well that says it all.**

**I'd like to thank narusasu-fan00 for telling me to get off my lazy ass and update something. (Course it wasn't put in those exact words but the effect was the same) and now there is a chapter 2 to this new story yaaaaay. Many happy things have been going on all day so I shall share the happiness with you.**

**ONWARDS!! **

********************************* 2****nd**** ENCOUNTER***************************************

"Damn it damn it damn it. Where is it?!" the quiet new morning was shattered as screams erupted from the small beat up house along the stream. Nearby birds fluttered away in fear of the source of the disturbance.

Inside that small beat up house Uzumaki Naruto was on a rampage, pulling, tossing, lifting and ripping anything he got his hands on.

"It has to be there, it has to." The furious blond charged around the little space praying desperately that has was still asleep and that waking up this chest bare of his most treasured item was all just a sick dream his brain concocted.

Angry tears flooded his eyes as he dung into a nearby drawer. Returning empty handed he cursed again and took a quick glance around the room. Everything was out of place. Every draw, shelf, corner and cupboard had been searched but still no sign of the necklace anywhere.

"No no no no" he chanting while banging his head on the wall behind him. He slide to the floor and brought his knees to his chest breaking out into silent sobs.

He jumped in surprise when he heard a gentle knock and questioned its origin. Soon after the sound was repeated, it was a knock on the door. He quickly jumped up and rushed to it, all the while rubbing the evidence of his crying from his eyes. He tentatively moved to open the door. Taking a final breath he swiftly removed the chain from its latch and cracked the door open.

"Hello?"

There at his front door was a tall man covered hear to toe in a dark cloak with only his face visible to the public.

"Can I help you?" he asked timidly. The last thing he needed right now was harassment.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" the stranger's deep voice gave him goose bumps all over.

"Uh..yeah."

Before he could register what was happening he was being pushed backwards into his house and the door was slammed closed behind the intruder.

"What the hell? What are you doing?" He preyed that his voice didn't sound as weak to the man as it did in his head.

"Still afraid I see" the figure before him whispered. Naruto missed this comment.

"Get out of my house." He made an attempt to push the bigger man away but he couldn't budge him.

The other person smirked while confidently taking steps forward until the smaller boy was pressed against the wall.

Naruto gasped when the stranger pressed closer to him and unconsciously whimpered. The stranger chucked at the sound.

"Don't be scared. I just want to return something."

There was a blank look on Naruto's face, "huh?"

Naruto watched suspiciously as the guy's hand disappeared behind the heavy cloak and pulled out a worn cloth. When it was handed to him he declined.

"Come on, take it. It belongs to you."

Though skeptical he slowly took the bundle and slowly began to peel away the layers of cloth. His heart skipped a beat when the content was revealed to him.

"T-th-this is my necklace." He screamed while clutching the jewelry close to his heart.

"Where did you find it?"

"Somewhere."

"Thank you thank you thank you!!!" his sudden pounce on the man sent then both tumbling to the ground with a thud.

"Ouch. I guess the necklace means a lot to you doesn't it?"

"Mhm. Thanks a lot for returning it to me but ah..how did you know it was mine?"

The stranger below him simply smiled then scanned the messy room.

"So, what exploded in here?"

Caught off guard by the other's question Naruto took a look around the room himself. It really did look as if a bomb went off.

"Uh I spent the entire morning looking for this." He still had a firm grip at the necklace refusing to let it out of his sight for even a second.

"Wow", he pushed himself off the floor, "Going to take awhile to clean this up."

"Hehe yeah."

It was at that moment that Naruto's stomach chose to announce its emptiness. Embarrassed, he pressed his hands into his belly blushing, "Sorry, I haven't had anything to eat yet."

The dark eyed stranger chuckled, "Come with me. I'll treat you today."

Naruto's face lit up at the invitation and proceeded to bounce on his feet.

"Really? That's awesome. Let's g—wait um I need to change."

With that said he grabbed the nearest shirt and pants from the floor and hurried into the bathroom. A few minutes later they were locking the door and walking into the sun towards, as Naruto claimed 'the best ramen shop in the world', all the while giggling and spewing nonsense whether his guest wanted to hear it or not.

"—don't yah think?"

The question was thrown at his companion but when only silence met him Naruto gazed over at the man walking in toe who seemed to be throwing glares at anyone within a few feet.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"They're all staring."

"Oh," blue eyes drifted to the dirt ground beneath his feet, "They're probably all looking at me."

The other male detected the sadness in Naruto's voice and added, "Actually they're probably looking at me, since I am dressed in an odd way. They might think strangely of me."

Naruto giggled a bit, "Well those are weird looking clothes. Why you wearing it?"

"Where I come from it's not so strange."

"Where is that exactly?"

"Some place not too far from here."

"Hmm, you know. You never really answer my questions."

"Is that so?"

He was about to query when the sent of steamy ramen attacked his nostrils. Suddenly too hungry to argue he sprinted in the direction of the smell leaving the confused raven behind.

"Two orders of ramen please! With the works!"

The store owner smiled over at his number one costumer before busying himself with the order.

"So, this is the great ramen shop I take it?" the stranger slid unto the stool next to Naruto and grabbed a menu.

"Yep. I already ordered for you though." He smiled sheepishly.

The raven raised an eyebrow at the gesture but let it pass. "Doesn't matter. I wouldn't know what's good anyway."

"Psh sound like you never had ramen before."

The boy's laughter faded when he was answered with silence.

"EHH!! YOU SERIOUSLY NEVER TASTED THE WONDER OF RAMEN BEFORE!?"

"It's not made where I'm from."

Naruto's face had a look of utter disbelief, "and where would that be, the moon? The hell, what kinda place doesn't have ramen? Would never want to live there."

"I'm sure you wouldn't."

"Eat up you two," the shop owner placed two bowls of steaming soup on the counter before them then went off to take more orders. Within seconds Naruto had broken his chopsticks, mumbled his thanks to the gods and attacked the lifeless food. It was almost inhumane how quickly he inhaled it and before you could blink it was gone. After giving a sigh of content he looked over at his guest.

"What you don't like it?" he found it surprising that the bowl was still relatively full.

"I guess I wasn't that hungry."

"Yeah it seems so you only ate the meat. What a waste."

The bowl was then gently pushed over to his side of the counter.

"You can have it."

Sparkles reflected in Naruto's eyes and once again the routine was done.

"Ate well Naruto?"

"You betcha old man." He patted his belly for emphasis.

"Good to hear. Now who's paying?" the old man's eyes shifted between the two.

"I am".

At the sound of his voice the store owner glanced over at him suspiciously. "You're paying eh?"

Again his pale hand disappeared behind the cloak and re-emerged holding a small bag. He tossed it carelessly on the counter.

"Is that enough?"

The owner narrowed his eyes at the male while reaching for the bag. He slowly untied the ribbon around the mouth and pulled the edges open revealing hundreds of perfectly round coins, gold coins. His eyes went wide with disbelief.

"I-is this real?"

People in the town weren't use to seeing gold being tossed around just so. In fact most of their buying and selling was done with copper coins though some were fortunate to have silver coins. However, unless you were the Hokage or some other high privileged individual you almost never saw much less owned gold in you life.

"Yes, it's real. Is that a problem?"

Was he seriously asking that, "No no this is just fine."

"Woah!." Naruto raised himself from his stool to lean closer to the excitement. "I'd ask you how you got it but I'd probably get some crazy answer again."

The dark haired stranger smirked, "So is it enough?"

"Ye-yes. It's too much actually I'll just take what you owe me." he was reaching into the bag when the stranger spoke again.

"No need. Take it as payment for the future bowls he's going to order." He nudged his head over in Naruto's direction.

"What?!" was he hearing right? Did he just say-

"Sure sure of course." The owner gladly took the entire bag of gold all the while smiling brightly. "You hear that Naruto come back anytime you want." And with that he walked off humming.

The blond sat frozen for awhile, putting the pieces of the previous events together. Why would a stranger do that for…me? He looked over at the man only to find him gone.

"Hey wait up." He ran over to catch up to him. "Um, thanks for the treat and all and uh the free ramen."

"No problem."

"Uh I kinda wanna know why you'd even do that for me?"

"No reason, I felt like it."

They were silent after that. Neither one knowing or caring where their feet led them. It was only when Naruto heard the sound of running water did he look around to see that he was at one of the rivers running though the village.

"Oh cool" he giggled and ran down the grass hills unto the rocky bank. Without missing a beat he ran into the water not caring about his now wet pants legs.

"Come and join me." he shouted up to the stranger who was still on the top looking down.

"No thanks. I'll watch from here."

Naruto shrugged before taking off trying to catch the multi-coloured fish weaving around him. The raven smiled at the boy's antics but his attention was pulled elsewhere when a group of gossiping ladies walked by.

"Did you hear?" one of them said just above a whisper, "Two guards at the forest gates were found unconscious a few minutes ago."

The others gasped in unison.

"That's terrible."

"Yeah and the strange thing is when they woke up they had no idea who they were or anything."

"I wonder what's going on?"

"You don't think it has something to do with _them_ do you?"

They chose to let the question hang in the air.

The raven waited until they were far down the road before calling Naruto.

"What's up?" he asked while wringing the edges of his pants as dry as possible.

"It seems I have to leave now."

"Oh", he pouted a little, "Well, that's ok we can see each other tomorrow. We can have lunch again and I can show you around-"

"I don't think I'll be coming here again."

"Wha? Why not? Don't you like it here? Don't you want to-don't you want to be friends with me?" he looked up at the man pleadingly. "Don't just leave me...please?"

"I'm sorry but—"

He watched the array of emotions dance across the blonde's face, confusion, betrayal, sadness then anger.

"Fine be that way. Not like I care." With that he stomped off in the opposite direction. Soon the stomps slowed to casual strides then slowed again to lazy drags in the dirt.

"Damn it. It's not big deal Naruto. Stop brooding like a girl and get on with life." He stopped in his tracks when tears threatened to fall. "You're use to people leaving you right…?"

He took two more steps forward then stopped again.

"Damn it, this just doesn't feel right." With his mind set he raced back in the direction he came.

After running for what seemed like forever he finally caught up with the cloaked stranger.

"Oi, OI!!" the man turned to look at the out of breath teen. "I- I didn't wa-want to leave it at that haaah wow running hurts."

He pulled himself from the bending position, "I wanted to properly say goodbye and thank you again for everything so…thank you."

"As I already told you it's no problem."

"Good. So can I at least walk you to the gate?"

"I think it's best if you didn't." the man turned again leaving the other behind.

"Bu-wait. I said wait damn it", he made a grab at the man's cloak which was suppose to stop him but instead slide off him shoulders and unto the ground.

Horror spread like wild fire through the teen's veins, "You…You're-".

A loud scream erupted a few feet behind them. Looking back Naruto saw a woman retreating into her house. A few moments later the angry spouse charged out, weapon in hand.

"Filthy demon! How dare you step out of your place."

The shouts from the man alerted others nearby and like a domino effect all the women and children ran into the safety of their homes while the men grabbed whatever they could and gathered outside. Each shouting treats and promises of death.

"Naruto. Get out of here."

Said boy felt insulted, "No way I'm not leaving you alone."

"Well then let's go."

Before Naruto could respond he was grabbed by the arm and pulled down the nearest alley. They twisted there way down corridors and between stores until the sounds of the mob were distant.

"Sl-slow down." Naruto managed to free his hand when they slowed a bit. He grabbed at his sides and took in deep breaths.

"I- can't believe it. All this time you were a…you were one of _them_."

He gazed once again at the non human ears that were attached to the man's dark hair. He almost wanted to reach out and rub them to make sure they were real.

"I didn't know you could look like this."

"Not many do."

Their conversation was interrupted as the sounds from the crowd grew louder yet again.

"Naruto listen to me go hide somewhere until this mess calms down." He prepared to sprint off again but was stopped.

"Naruto." He growled in frustration making Naruto remember just what he was dealing with.

He blushed slightly, he had no idea why he felt the need to help this...creature but-

"Uh sorry it's just that I know a short cut to the forest gates." He pulled the stranger in his chosen direction.

The two ran in the small space down the alley just as someone turned the corner.

"Oi over here! There's a kid with the demon." He alerted the crowd.

"You think he's a hostage?" another asked.

"Only one way to find out." And with that they continued their chase again.

It didn't take long for arrows and daggers to fill the air all aiming for the target ahead of them. One narrowly missed Naruto's cheek when he took a sharp right ducking behind a carriage carry fruits.

"It's just up ahead" he said reassuringly and took another series of twists around the maze of the streets to put more distance between them and the mob.

"There it is." They had finally made it to the clearing with the brass gates just up ahead. "Now go before they-"

He lost his train of thought when he watched with large eyes as the form of the pale skinned dark haired man before him changed into a large black red eyed wolf.

Suddenly it dawned on him.

"Ah, it's you from last night, you saved me." he let his gaze shift to his feet when the blood red eyes landed on him.

"_It seems you remember me." _

Eyes still to the ground he mumbled a 'yeah'.

"Thanks again for that."

"_Hn just stay out of the forest Uzumaki."_

"I promise."

The shouts from the crowd were beginning to pick up again, a sign that the stranger used as his cue to leave. Turning away from the blond he dashed through the gates and towards the thick cluster of trees. The man would soon be out of sight when it hit Naruto…

"WAIT!" I don't know your name."

"_Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke."_

Naruto whispered the words to himself testing it with his tongue as he watched the tail of the demon vanish behind the trees.

The crowd had finally caught up.

"There's the boy."

"But where's the demon."

"He couldn't have gone far. After him."

While most of the men foolishly continued their pursuit a few stayed behind. One in particular pressed his heavy hand unto Naruto's shoulder, who winced at the weight.

"You're in for it now kid."

********************************* 2****nd**** ENCOUNTER***************************************

**AAAAANNNNNNDDD this would be the end of yet another chapter. So hope you enjoyed it. If so tell me if not…tell me but don't be mean or I will cry *tears in eyes*. Love you guys later**


	3. Treason

**Warning: May cause yaoi addiction**

**Disclaimer: I'm running out of ideas for these things. I own not what Sasuke has claimed.**

**Alright so this is the 3****rd**** chapter yaaaay it's finally done at *looks at clock* one in the morning. But I hope you all enjoy this.**

*******************************TREASON*****************************************

Tsunade once again found herself surrounded in a room by angry villagers. Each one shouting one thing or another and again she was having that special kind of headache that needed that special kind of medicine. She quickly motioned for Kakashi to come closer.

"Have a bottle of sake ready in my office."

The silver haired man nodded before exiting the room. Tsunade unwillingly started the conference.

"Alright alright quiet down. What brings you all here so late in the evening?"

The room erupted in screams and incomprehensible nonsense.

"Enough!" Tsunade's roar tore through the crowd silencing them again. "Shall we have a representative speak on your behalf."

Not a second later an eager villager near the front shot up from his seat and took his place at the podium.

"I think we can all agree when I say we've had enough of that damn brat."

The crowed cheered forcing Tsuande to take control again.

"Why is it that every time you people gather here it's to rant about the brat?" she threw her head back against the chair in frustration. "I mean really, I know he's a handful and a pain in the ass at times but come on people get over it. It's just a few pranks he'll grow out of it."

The expressions on the villager's faces were solemn, "Actually Tsunade-sama, we came to discuss matters more sever this time. The child was spotted this afternoon...with a demon."

At the end of the statement the silent room was once again filled with the usual rants and demands from the people but all that went unheard by the frozen blond staring down at her papers.

"That can't be right. That's impossible, he wouldn't.."

"Unfortunately Hokage-sama, it is true. Several of us were eye-witnesses to this. It was very clear that-"

"I said it can't be possible!" the room went quite after the sudden outburst and all eyes turned to her distressed form.

"Can't be true." She was mumbling reassuring words to herself.

This could not be how it ended. This could not be true. For in this time there were certain acts you did not commit and the worst of them all, worse than man slaughter itself, was this, an act with a sever punishment, death.

*******************************TREASON*****************************************

"Hey let me out of here. You can't do this!" and that was how Naurto found himself behind bars later that evening.

"Why the hell am I here?"

"Shut it brat." One of the guards apparently had enough of his bickering. "You're making my ears bleed with your loud nonsense."

"Then unlock the damn gate so I can leave you in peace," the blond shouted while pressing his face against the cold bars.

"Rotten little punk," and he turned his back to Naruto again and tried to block him out.

Said blond inside the cell gave up complaining after exhausting every curse word invented and slouched into a corner furthest away from the guard. He bowed his head and pulled his legs to his chest blocking his face from view. The quiet cell was soon filled with soft sobs of distress. The guard on duty only rolled his eyes at the pitiful act.

Both occupants of the room jumped slightly when the heavy metal door to the room swing open loudly. Angry shouts quickly drowned the sound of Naruto's cries as the furious leader boldly passed through the threshold. Five other officers raced behind her, all with grim looks on their faces.

"Tsunade-sama we told you. We're not allowed to release him." One of the guards nervously inquired.

"I didn't ask your opinion!" she yelled angrily. "And when I said I was releasing him, it wasn't a question."

Walking past them she continued down the narrow hallway tot eh guard at the cell.

"Open the gate."

The man flinched and attempted to speak but before he could get a word out she barked at him.

"I didn't ask you anything now open the gate. Do it now or lose your ranking."

He jumped at the treat and quickly grabbed the keys from his belt and stumbled to undo the lock.

Tsunade stepped into the cell to see the teen huddled up in a corner. His brilliant blue eyes were red and puffy from all the crying.

"Ba..chan," he weakly called for her, his lower lip quivering as he tried to steady his breath.

The site before her tore at her heart. She outstretched her hands, inviting him over.

"We're leaving."

He was crying again but he didn't care to hide it. Stumbling to his feet, he ran over to her and buried his heat into her cheat. She immediately responded by wrapping her arms around him squeezing him for dear life.

"Come on Naruto" she ruffled his head hoping to lighten the situation, "Let's go."

Naruto was hesitant to move at first but as Tsunade took the first step forward he quickly shuffled after her, keeping his head down.

"Hokage-sama."

"You're starting this again," she growled to the speaker whose nervousness grew tenfold.

"But we cannot allow you to take the boy."

"We have direct orders Hokage-sama."

This was starting to piss her off. Once again Naruto was beside her clutching unto her robes like he did all those years ago. He could feel him shaking and vowed to kill the idiots for putting him through this but first he had to get him away from here which was easier said than done. As she stepped out into the hallway a dozen anbu rushed in assuming the fighting stance.

"Hokage-sama we cannot allow you to pass."

This batch looked more serious than the previous, she almost felt threatened…almost.

"Get out of my way before I-"

"Tsuande-sama."

The sound of the new yet voice familiar voice forced her attention a little behind the mob before her. She scowled when the figure stepped forward.

"Do you really thing it is just to allow this traitor to be set free."

His face, as usual, shone with a sinister guise.

"I don't see a traitor here. I see a kid who's not spending a day behind bars as long as I'm alive and kicking."

"Keep this up and you might find that you won't be."

She marched over to the man who remained unnerved by her anger. Towering over him she growled, "Are you threatening me?"

The man only smiled, "Of course not. Just making a statement."

"Keep them to yourself." She gave the man one last stare down before pushing past him once again dragging Naruto along with her.

"If you do this people will believe you favour the boy."

"Let them."

"Honestly I think that-"

"I don't give a crap what you think."

"The boy must be tried."

"And until then he will be released into my custody."

Her eyes were narrowed daring him to oppose her.

"That's…fine. I doubt you'll be changing your mind."

"Correct."

"Very well. Let them pass."

At his command the anbu scattered clearing the path. She didn't hesitate to storm away.

"Danzo-sama what's your plan?"

Said man watched as both blonds disappeared through the gates before addressing his subordinate,

"Send a message to the council. Tell them to prepare for trial."

Naruto Uzumaki, once again found himself in a huge mess. He was currently hiding away in the Hokage's quarters gazing through the window finding little amusement in the owner of the house barking orders to the anbu guards left, right and centre. He sighed again and moved away from the window. It was at that moment that Tsuande charged in face red with ager.

"I'll demote them all! Those bastards think they can tell me what to do. Who the hell do they can they are!"

The blond chose to keep his distance as she continued to shout at the ceiling.

"AND YOU!" Naruto's eyes resembled a frightened deer when her attention suddenly flew to him.

"We have to talk Naruto." Do you have any idea what trouble you've brought down on everyone? This is not going to just blow off easily kid." Seeing his fear she calmed down slightly and sat across from him.

"Naruto, how did all this happen? I can't believe you let one of them get this far into the village without alerting anyone." Her anger was boiling up again.

"It's not like I knew!" he defended. "He had a cloak on, how was I suppose to magically get super vision and see through his clothes."

"Then how and when did you find out?"

"We-well I sorta pulled on his clothes and it came off. That was when the commission started."

"And then you helped him escape?"

"Y-yeah I guess I wasn't really thinking."

He heard her sigh.

"What I don't get it why you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why this…this thing had to find you of all people."

"Erm, who knows."

He didn't think now was the time to bring up his rendezvous the previous night. Instead he sat uncomfortably in the silence listening to the birds chirping in the distance.

"Baa-chan", He got no reply but continued speaking. "What happened now?"

"We wait and hope that those old geezers don't make things too difficult for us."

He knew it was a stupid question but it slipped out anyway, "Do you think I'll get out of this one?"

There was no answer just the melodic sounds of the chirping birds.

*******************************TREASON*****************************************

"Do I have to do this?" his question was answered by a glare from Iruka.

"Yes you do. This isn't going to go away by cleaning the river and doing random chores around the village Naruto. This is a serious crime."

"I still don't see what the big deal is." The blond huffed and crossed his arms.

Iruka rolled his eyes at the childish action.

"Rules are made for a reason Naruto and those rules are meant to be followed or there will be consequences."

"It's not that big a deal."

The older man walked closer to him and ruffed his hair.

"It's not your fault that you don't understand."

"NO! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS"

"Unfortunately Tsunade-sama we the council have already come to a decision."

"BUT HE'S ONLY A CHILD? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS HAVE A HEART!"

"He has committed a serious crime." Another elder stated.

"There has to be another way."

"It would seem Lady Tsuande that this matter has already been closed."

The blond so desperately wanted to knock the smug look from the bastard Danzo's face.

"This can't be how you plan to solve anything? What if another child had done this, would you treat them this way?

There was no answer.

"Of course you wouldn't. You just can't stand Naruto and you and I both know that this is a cruel thing to do with a child."

"You keep saying child but the facts are Tsuande-sama that he is no child. He is old enough to know right and wrong and this was clearly a big wrong."

"But-"

"I am sorry Hokage-sama but this is the final decision of the council. Uzumaki Naruto has been exiled from Konoha."

*******************************TREASON*****************************************

"So uh, how much longer is it going to be?" Naruto was getting pretty nervous just sitting there watching the clock tick.

"Not sure, hopefully not much longer." Iruka couldn't hide his own nervousness and he made continuous glances between the door and the clock.

"W-what do you think is happening in there?" the blond asked trying to ease the tension a little.

"Hopefully no one's being killed," he mumbled below his breath.

Both occupants of the room jumped to their feet when the door was suddenly flung open and both panicked when on of the boys instructed that the boy be taken.

"Wait, what are you doing? Where are you taking him?" Iruka charged forward when they grabbed Naruto's arm.

"We have orders step aside."

"No! You can't do this. What's going on?"

"I said step aside." One of the guards pushed him across the room.

"IRUKA-SAN!" The captured blond tried to make a break for it and help his teacher but the guards refused to let that happen.

"Let go. Get off me! Irukaaa Iruka!"

Those were the last words he heard from him before he was dragged off.

*******************************TREASON*****************************************

**Owarimashita! Woot that would be the end. Isn't that something, poor Naru. Who saw this coming? I know somebody did and curse you for it. **

**Leave a comment and tell me what you think. The stories about to pick up now yay.**


	4. Beyond the Village Walls

**Warning: May cause spasms and random nose bleeds and other such abnormalities. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto that "accidental" kiss wouldn't be an accident and it wouldn't have ended with a kiss psh.**

**First I'd like to say thanks to all my reviewers *cue sitcom applause*. You motivate me to actually try and get chapters posted at regular times. Yay for you. At first I had no idea how to get this chapter started but with a little (a lot) of help from a special someone and a little (a lot) of free time at work my thoughts came out rather quickly. I will warm you though this chapter has nothing special in it at all. In fact it's quite boring. It's really just an intro to the actual story so please be patient the fun parts are just around the corner. Well here goes!**

*******************************BEYOND THE WALLS*****************************

It was faint but he knew he heard it, a howling in the distance. There it was again. Where was he?

Uzumaki Naruto's eyes lazily opened when yet another unfamiliar sound disturbed his sleep. Grumbling to himself he took in his surroundings. The hard cold dirt pressed against his cheek, the green scenery above him, the thin rays of daylight slipping between the leaves. His eyes closed again slowly allowing his brain to register what exactly he had just seen. A few seconds later, he bolted into a sitting position. His panicked eyes darting at everything they could as realization hit him. He was in the forest. A place he should not be. A place he was threatened and promised never to return to.

He quickly spun to his feet doing a complete 360 hoping for some sign of the village. Hoping that this was some dumb joke the villagers had pull to teach him a lesson. So he stood there waiting for someone to pop from behind a tree, holding their sides from laughter and telling him that the joke was over...but none came. Nothing came and nothing changed. He was still hopelessly confused and still alone.

*******************************BEYOND THE WALLS*****************************

"I can't believe you let them take him!" Iruka, who was all about respect, manners and discipline, burst through Tsunade's office immediately after awakening from his blackout.

It was Kakashi who had his arms locked around the brunette's shoulder that kept him from making his complaints physical.

"What is he suppose to do out there on his own! He'll be killed. What kind of Hokage are you?" the tears now flowed angrily down his cheeks as he tried to keep his voice steady.

Tsunade stoned her heart as she prepared the automatic response, "Those were the orders of the elders, and they had to be followed."

"Don't give me that crap. No way in hell the 3rd would have allowed this!"

"But he isn't here now is he?"

Iruaka could only huff at the obvious fact.

"How could you be so cold? It's like you don't care."

"Enough!" In one swift move she rose from her desk and marched over to the trapped man, grabbing him by his shirt.

"Don't you dare say that I don't care. Who do you think was the one who begged them not to threw him out? Who do you think got put on probation because 'she can't be in a clear state of mind'? Who do you think wants to open those damn gates and throw his ass back in here? Don't you give me crap about not caring, that's all I do!" she released her grip on the now frozen man and strolled over to the windows.

"As tall as this building is, I still can't see over those walls and every time I look through these windows I'm reminded of my failure to protect him"

The two occupants of the room could only stand and watch with sad expressions as tears quietly dripped down to the blonde's feet.

Iruka stepped forward ready to take back all he had just said, "H-hokage-sama I-"

"No need Iruka. You are dismissed. Tell the guards I'll see no more visitors on your way out."

"Yes Hokage-sama."

As the door creaked to a close behind her she was left to wallow in her self pity.

*******************************BEYOND THE WALLS*****************************

After somewhat accepting the fact that they had in fact removed him from the village and that he was a dead man if he stayed in one place too long, he brushed himself off and started moving. He had no idea where he was going nor did he care, he just knew he had to get to higher grounds or risk being some creature's dinner and he hoped to God that the path he was currently on would lead him there and not into some wild animal's nest or worse.

"So tired", the complaints started a few minutes after he stared walking, "And hungry. Man what I would give to have a steaming bowl of ramen right now."

His talking to himself was his way of killing the silence around him and helping him calm down some what and it was working...until the distinct sound of rustling bushes caught his ears. He stopped the second it did and listened for the sound again, which was hard to do with his heart beat thumping in his ears.

"Ah could be my imagination", and with a nervous laugh he continued forward ducking under branches and jumping over small streams.

It was several minutes later when he heard another disturbance. This time he was sure it wasn't his imagination because he could clearly see the leaves of the small shrub moving.

"Shit", and he was off, sprinting as fast and far away from the scene a his human legs could take him. Whatever it was that was behind him was doing a great job in keeping up but then again he was human and the other thing probably wasn't.

Tearing his ways deeper into the forest he attempted to put some distance between him and his chaser but was failing miserably and even thought he was usually praised for his unusual stamina, that too was failing him, as his legs refused to go as fast as they once did. His exertion and oxygen deprived body resulted in his movement getting clumsier and clumsier until he finally tripped and landed face first on the dirt but recovered fast enough to spin onto his back and push himself against a stump. All the while his brain shouted at him to get up and get going but with his breathing laboured and muscles stinging his body refused to obey. In a final attempt to survive he pressed himself further into the hard woody stump, wishing it would open and provide refuge, which obviously was not granted. So he could only wait to be confronted.

What he didn't expect however, was for a red head to pop out from behind the tree. It was less scary than what his mind had already concocted but nerve racking none the less. He watched as the creature sniffed the air then slowly stepped from behind its hiding spot to reveal itself, a small fox.

"Uh...hello", as if the fox could understand him it yipped in response before dashing over excitedly.

Thinking the small fluff ball was going to attack, Naruto scrambled and shifted away but the red animal only stopped to nuzzle his leg, leaving the blond completely puzzled.

"Ni-nice to meet you", he nervously greeted while petting the other's head.

The animal yipped in turn and chased its tail drawing soft giggles from the blond teen. Those giggles stopped suddenly when the rustling sound of the bushes was heard again. Naruto hurriedly grabbed the little guy defensively and prepared to make a mad dash but stopped when he once again saw a red head peek from under the bushes and another...and another until he was surrounded by what appeared to be hundreds of deep red foxes.

"Holy crap, have you guys been following me this whole time?" He made a mental note that if any other animals were his chasers he would have been a dead man ages ago and silently thanked them for finding him first.

They all stood there gazing at him and he gazed right back, feeling slightly awkward that he was now the centre of attention. He waved back shyly and was surprised when they all began to bark in unison making the once silent and cold forest seem just a bit less cold.

For the umpteenth time that day the Uchiha sighed and for the umpteenth time Neji, Kiba and Shikamaru exchanged puzzled glances with each other as they watched their friend once again lose focus and stare off into the distance.

"Sasuke man, you ok?" Kiba had asked but was denied an answer.

"Is there a link between your lackadaisical behaviour and your constant glances around the place? Which so happens to always be in the direction of that human village?" Sasuke scoffed at Shikamaru's question but gave no response.

"I heard that you saved a human boy Sasuke. Rin was rather angry at you for ruining his kill."

"Yeah whatever."

'Finally he speaks', was everyone's thought.

"I assume the boy is from that village," Neji had a stupid smirk on his face that Sasuke wanted to slap right off.

"I'm not looking at anything now shut up about it", he heard the two idiots behind him chuckle and the need to slice their jugulars grew.

"Calm down Sasuke," Kiba had jogged closer to the raven to continue his taunts. "We won't tell anyone. What was his name again? Na-ru-to? Was he-Aah!"

The brunette suddenly found himself tumbling backwards until he harshly came in contact with the ground and a very angry raven stepping on his ribs.

"Say another word and I'll break them", to prove how serious he was the pressure on Kiba's ribs doubled.

"Alright alright. Geez I was only joking. My bad for forgetting that I was dealing with The Uchiha Lord of Frowns."

Neji, who was about to speak, was silenced by the all too familiar death glare.

"Ok ok joke's done. We should be heading back anyway", and with hat said they continued forward again.

"Stupid Uchiha can't appreciate good humour", Kiba mumbled to himself before he came to a sudden stop. He noticed that the others had as well.

"You heard that?" Shikamaru asked a few seconds after.

"If you couldn't hear it you can smell it," Kiba pointed out.

"Blood."

Without missing a beat Sasuke raced forward changing into his demon form, knowing that the others would follow. A second later the four human-like figures became four vicious beasts charging full speed in the direction of danger.

For some strange reason Naruto had been dragged off by his fox chasers and currently found himself at what appeared to be their home. Hundreds more foxes ran up to greet him, all yipping and licking happily at their guest.

"S-stop, that tickles", he gasped between burst of laughter.

His attempts to wiggle away from the pack only met failure as more and more of the adorable creatures chose to join in on the festivities.

It was after they had tired themselves out did they finally stop, allowing the blond to dust himself off and glance around the 'community'.

"This is so cool. You're alone big happy family aren't you?"

He found it unbelievably strange that he spoke to the animals as if they could understand him and even stranger when they seemed to reply.

The blond walked deeper into their home stopping every now and then to pet or play with the small kits that seemed fascinated with his orange pants. Their excited yips died soon after and pregnant silence hovered over the once joyful family. Naruto watched from the side lines, confused at the sudden change in atmosphere and noticed that all eyes were angrily boring holes at the cosy nest's entrance but moments later, the place was moving again. Vixens grabbed their kits and took cover under bushes and in borrows as the others sprang forward to form a barrier between them and the rest of the foxes.

The blond human remained where he stood, puzzled by the sudden turn of events. It was only when another vixen attempted to pull him in their direction did he finally move and duck behind a rose bush with the others, his golden hair peeking over the top as he strained to see over it. From where he was hiding he could clearly make out the angry faces on the guarding foxes all gnarling at some invisible object. Soon after four large creatures appeared from behind the trees, all wearing an angry face of their own, teeth bared and growling low. As the wolverine creatures stepped closer to the wall of defence Naruto couldn't stop the sudden fear that coursed through him.

Movement stilled when the wolverines were only inches away from the red foxes, both sets glaring wildly at the other as if daring each other to make a move first. It didn't take long for them to grow impatient and one of the foxes quickly dashed forward to attack. Though outnumbered the wolverines were larger than the foxes giving them that extra edge over the small creatures and though they had managed to immobilize one of the wolverine, the other 3 refused to go down easy. As the minutes ticked by the once green haven was coloured red as the foxes fell defeated one by one. Frustration bubbled up inside Naruto as he watched the blood bath before him and without hesitation he sprung from his spot and rushed out into the line of fire.

"Stop you can't do this!" he shouted at the beast in a desperate attempt to stop the bloodshed but it gave no sign of understanding. Instead, it growled and walked closer to the shaking blond.

Defensively, Naruto grabbed a fallen branch that was conveniently placed near him and held it above his head, waiting to attack. The wolverine was not deterred at the act and immediately pounced at the boy, narrowly missing his attack but forcing him unto the ground.

Naruto yelled when his back collided with the dirt but readied the branch again for another swing, this time connecting with the target. The creature whimpered as it was smacked across the jaw but showed no signs of backing up. Another hit however, forced it back a few inches giving Naruto enough space to jump back on his feet and land another blow to the head. He smiled as the animal fell and curled but his inner victory was shorted lived as the surprise attack from behind pushed him face first into the dirt. Right after, the thing 3 times his size was pressing on his back, crushing his lungs and forcing shallow breaths pass his lips.

"G-get off!" his screams and struggled were useless and only resulted in the paws being pushed harder on his spine.

A gasp escaped him when the foul breath of the animal above him blew against his cheek and from the corners of his eyes he could see the razor teeth of his capture waiting to bite. Squeezing his eyes closed he waited for the pain he knew would follow but instead of pain he felt relief as air rushed down to his lungs when the pressure on his back was removed. Coughing a few times in an attempt to normalize his breathing, he slowly rose to his feet glancing behind him ready to worship the fox that had saved him. His eyes widened at what he saw. There before him was not a fox but a wolf. An angry wolf, that was currently crushing the frightened creature to the ground. A wolf that he recognized immediately, despite the large distance between them…

"Sasuke."

*******************************BEYOND THE WALLS*****************************

**Well there we have it folks another chapter done. Let me hear what you have to say.**


	5. The Return of the Saviour

**Warning: Must be this tall to ride**

**Disclaimer: I'm still saving up to buy the rights guys gimme a little more time.**

**At the risk of failing my essay and the course I posted this today. Since nothing much happened in the last chapter I really wanted to get this one up and get the story rolling. I for one had fun thinking this up I hope you love it as much as I do. **

**Loopdiz don't kill me I'll get that essay done by the deadline…maybe**

*************************THE RETURN***************************************

"Sasuke", the name left him as a whisper but despite the fact, the wolf's ear twitched in the blonde's direction confirming his identity.

He called louder, pleased when the owner's head turned towards him and smiled when those familiar red eyes locked with his. Relief soon followed.

Feeling the squirming insect below his feet, Sasuke's attention quickly went back to the wolverine beneath him and with one last growl he opened his jaw to deliver the final and fatal blow. Naruto turned his head away from the nauseating sight and only then did he notice the presence of others like Sasuke. One of which was currently sniffing his rear end. He yelped and ran over to hide behind the large wolf figure that was Sasuke, gripping harshly at his black fur. Seconds later the soft hairs between his fingers were replaced with the burning skin on the now human male.

"What are you doing here?" the raven screamed down at the now frightened blond human, his demon eyes still in place.

"Woah, Sasuke man calm down. You're scaring the kid."

Naruto looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man with short brown hair and red triangles on his cheeks standing where the creepy wolf once was. He also noticed the other two men a little away from them helping the remainder of the foxes get back on their feet.

"Stay out of this Kiba", Sasuke snapped never once taking his eyes off the human.

The man, named Kiba, raised his hands defensively before walking over to assist the others.

"Naruto," said boy gasped when a strong and painful grip made its way to his arm. "Answer the question."

"Ouch Sasuke let go."

"Why are you in the forest? Didn't I tell you it's not a place for humans?"

"I know but it's not like I had a choice," he tried to jerk his hand away but only caused himself pain.

"What do you mean by that?" the red glow in his Sasuke's eyes died down to his usual dark ones but it didn't make Naruto less nervous.

"W-well I was umm..I was kicked out of the village ok. I got into a bit of trouble for being seen with you the other day and well, let's just say the council wasn't too happy about it. So here I am," he waited to hear what the other male would say but was met with silence.

"Uh, Sasuke?"

"You were..exiled?" the expression on the demon's face was one of utter disbelief. Naruto would have found it completely funny if it had been any other situation.

"Uh yeah."

Guilt. Guilt was all that Sasuke could feel at the moment. Memories of his visit to the village flashed before him. The sudden and beautiful smile Naruto had showed him upon returning his necklace, the random words he failed to listen to, the anger and disappointment that graced his face when he said he wouldn't return. If he hadn't gone to see Naruto that day none of this would have happened. He would still be in his house, in his village, doing whatever it was he did for a living. Instead the poor boy was here, alone and abandoned. What kind of a race did that? His guilt was immediately pushed aside for the rage that bubbled with the thought of slaughtering the entire village.

"Ouch, Sasuke you're hurting me." The soft voice of the boy beside him stopped his daydreaming and he loosened his grip but didn't let go.

Heat slowly rose to Naruto's cheeks at the intense gaze Sasuke was sending his way so he lowered his head to make it less embarrassing for himself.

"Sasuke, let go." He, instead of being released, was pulled against the other's chest with arms tightly locked around his slim figure.

Was he being hugged?

"Naruto, I'm so sorry", Naruto shivered as the words were whispered right next to his ear. He was about to respond when Kiba from before interrupted their 'moment'.

"Naruto? The Naruto? Hey guys you hear that?" the Kiba person had a cheeky grin on his face as he shouted to the others.

With Sasuke and Naruto being as close as they were, Naruto easily heard the curse that left the raven's mouth as he pulled away.

"Kiba now is not the time." He stormed over to the laughing brunette and attempted to silence him but Kiba swiftly ducked away and ran up to the blond in question, eyeing him critically for a while before breaking out another canine displaying grin.

"Holy shit, he's really cute isn't he?" with his back turned to Sasuke he missed the glare that was directed at him.

"Kiba stop being an idiot", another person had joined the conversation.

This one had long hair tied into a pony tail with seriously pale eyes. It was impossible to tell if he could see or not and it spiked Naruto's interest. The blond waved shyly at him to see if he would respond and when the 'blind' man raised an eyebrow at his action he couldn't help but smile.

Kiba looked over his shoulder at the other two and made the introductions, "that's Neji, he's a tight ass, almost as much as Uchiha," he ignored the growls that were meant for him and continued. "That one over there is Shikamaru", he pointed over at the male figure leaning against the tree staring at the sky. "He doesn't usually say much…or do much. Says it's too troublesome. And I'm Kiba, the cool one in the group. Nice to meet yah Naruto. We've heard so much about yo-OW!" Kiba was easily silence with a kick in the back.

"No he hasn't", the raven demon corrected.

Naruto giggled as he watched the two glare at each other before greeting everyone in his usual cheerful way, "Nice to meet you all."

"Well I'll be damn…even his voice is cute ow! Kiba yelled again when a foot connected with his stomach.

"Fuck Sasuke. Calm down I'm not going to touch him."

"You have a knack for pissing him off don't you Kiba", Neji spoke absentmindedly bending to pick up one of the kits that had started nuzzling his leg.

"It seems they like us."

"Odd, usually they'd be barking their asses off", the shaggy brunette stated while lifting himself off the dirt.

"It's because we helped them", Sasuke declared, stepping aside as more and more foxes came out from hiding to surround the blond, who gladly began playing with them. "Or more importantly, because we helped him."

"Who Naruto?" Neji questioned, letting the squirming fox fall from his hands and tackle the laughing blond as well. "Hm, they do seem very attached to him for some reason. Strange."

"Very. Oi Naruto", among the pile of red fur a blond head popped up at the sound of his name. "Come one we gotta go."

"Go where?" he asked curiously while pushing foxes off him left and right.

"I'm taking you back to my place. It's dangerous if you stay in open areas like this."

"But I don't wanna leave these guys."

"It's better if you come with me. It's safer for you and for them," he pointed at the foxes eagerly tugging at the boy's orange pants. "Those animals were more than likely drawn by your scent than the foxes. If you stay here you'll only attract more predators."

Naruto gasped at the thought.

"Oh God, I don't want that to happen."

"It's ok. I know. Now say goodbye and let's go I'll be dark soon."

Naruto turned to the foxes with a heavy heart and a sad face and as if understanding what was going to happen they all began to whine together and pull on any available article of clothing they could.

"I'm sorry but I can't stay here. I want you guys to be safe. Maybe, maybe I can visit?" he turned to Sasuke, a silence plea in his eyes. The raven only shrugged as a response crushing his hopes.

"Well, take care," with a final wave to the barking animals he made his way over to the others.

"Come on guys let's get going", it was Shikamaru who spoke. "We have to get back before it gets dark if we want blondie to live for another day."

"Yeah we're coming."

*************************THE RETURN***************************************

They walked for 20 minutes or so, all the while listening to Kiba complain about how long the short journey was taking because they were trekking it with 2 legs. The others had given up on telling him to shut up and instead tried to ignore him the rest of the way. He finally stopped bickering when they came before a large water fall.

"Finally," and with that he stepped onto the surface of the river and made his way towards the thick sheets of falling water.

The others followed in silence, leaving Naruto alone on the banking gasping like a fish out of water. Were they walking…on the river?

Sasuke, who had noticed the lack of companion on his right turned to see the blond staring at them from the same spot, eyes wide and mouth open.

"What's the matter? Let's go."

It was then Naruto snapped out of his daze.

"Go? Go where? I can't do that! In case you had forgotten I'm not a demon."

Sasuke mumbled to himself as he walked back to the sand. Something along the lines of retarded humans and their lack of ability to tap into their chakras. Whatever that meant.

"Put your arms around my neck."

"Why?" he gasped as he found himself being lifted bridal style in the other's arms.

A deep blush covered his cheeks at being so close to Sasuke yet again and hid it by pressing his face into the chest before him.

"You ok?"

"Y-yeah I'm fine."

Naruto grabbed the blue material of Sasuke's shirt as they stepped across the water and closer to the waterfall. Even as the angry roar of the falling water got louder Naruto couldn't bring himself to be worried when in Sasuke's arms but he couldn't help being curious.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"Back to my village" was the short reply.

"…in the waterfall?"

"The entrance is behind it."

That sounded as cool as it was cliché.

When they were inches away from the water Naruto readied himself for wetness he knew would come but was surprised however when the sheet of water simply parted, allowing them to pass through without problems.

"Now that was cool."

He felt the vibration of the raven's chuckle travel along his skin forcing his eyes to close at the sensation. He was just getting comfortable when without warning, he was released. The grip around his carrier's neck tightened as his feet made contact with the damp ground.

"You could have warned me bastard!" he yelled angrily but surprising himself in the process when his voiced echoed in the hallow space.

Looking around he noticed that they were in a cave of some sort.

"Took you guys long enough', Kiba called, pushing himself from the wall. "Come on let's go."

"Wait", Shikamaru called out to stop the group. "We still have a problem. You really think we can just waltz him into the village like that?"

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"They'll smell his human scent a mile away."

Naruto could literally see the wires connecting in everyone's head.

"Aah that's right and the fox smell probably wouldn't help things either" Kiba agreed and sniffed the air.

"Now that you mention it", Sasuke also began to sniff the air around Naruto. "You reek of fox. Did they mark you or something?"

"M-mark me?" the confused expression on his face perked everyone's interest.

"We can just re-mark him then", Kiba's hands made a sudden drop to his pants causing Naruto to take a worried step back and Sasuke to slam him into the nearest vertical surface.

"Do it and I'll rip you dick clean off."

The others visibly winced at the threat knowing full well that Sasuke was a man of his word.

"Chill chill I was joking", he said laughing nervously. "No need to get all pissy I mean angry!"

He was slowly allowed his freedom and backed away as far as possible from both Sasuke and Naruto, just to be on the safe side.

"So we obviously aren't going to mark him", Neji stated a matter of factly. "Not like that at least."

"Strip."

It took a few moments for Naruto to realize that Sasuke was speaking to him and another few to process the command.

"What! Why?"

"You have to get rid of those clothes. They reek of human soil."

"But but.."

"Just do it." He commanded while stripping his own shirt revealing his toned chest to the world.

Naruto found it hard to take his eyes away from the lean muscles placed so graciously before him but the current situation was making it a bit difficult to completely enjoy the moment.

"I I can't do it if everyone's staring at me."

Kiba grumbled 'bummer' before turning his back to him, the others soon followed. All except Sasuke, who never took his eyes off him for a second.

"Go on."

Swallowing the knot in his throat he turned slightly and began the process of removing his shirt. Soon after the pants followed and he was left standing awkwardly in only his green boxers.

"Well?" Sasuke prompted from the side.

"Well what?"

"Those have to go too." He pointed downwards but Naruto didn't have to look to know what he was referring to.

He gasped and grabbed hold of the single thin fabric keeping him clothed. Heat once again returned to his cheeks.

"No way. Then I'll be naked."

"If Sasuke gets to see him naked then so do I", Kiba pointed out.

Sasuke ignored him, instead choosing to focus on the almost naked blushing boy in front of him. He thanked every star in heaven that he had some form of hormonal control because right then only a thin force was stopping his animal instincts from taking over and ravishing the kid.

He sighed to himself. As much as he hated covering the perfectly tanned skin behind clothing once again he knew the others were getting impatient and wanted to get on with their lives. He tossed his shirt over to the blond who caught it with ease.

"Put that on first, then remove the shorts."

Naruto did as was told, rejoicing that the short was just big enough to hide his privates and once the shirt was comfortably in place, as comfortable as an oversized shirt could be, he quickly pulled down the boxers and tossed them on the ground.

"Is he done yet?" Kiba asked **while **turning around, disappointed that he was in fact done.

Naruto pulled the end of the large shirt down at the smirk Kiba had on his face. His face reddened again and he realized that in the short time he's been with the small demon group he'd been doing a lot of blushing.

"This is ridiculous. I can't walk around like this, what will other's think?"

"That you're someone's bitch." Naruto was left shocked at Shikamaru's choice of words but no one else seemed phased.

"Yeah, pretty much. Let's go." Neji agreed and lead the way towards the opening of the cave after Sasuke had set the clothes on fire…did he just..spit fire?

Naruto followed behind the group 100% conscious of the fact that he had no pants and that any wrong move could expose him. Seeing this, Sasuke once again hoisted him into his arms smirking when the boy squeaked and grabbed his shoulders.

"You could have warmed me bastard!" why did that sound so familiar?

The smirk widened as his eyes travelled south, "I figured this would be more fun."

The blond frowned and followed his gaze screaming when he realized that the shirt had ridden up a bit revealing the tip of his flaccid penis.

Face reddened, he quickly dragged the material over himself and yelled at Sasuke for being an insensitive bastard to which Sasuke responded with a deep chuckle. As the boy in his arms continues to squirm and scream Sasuke couldn't help feeling that life was about to get a lot more interesting.

*************************THE RETURN***************************************

**You know the drill! Reviews will make yaoi spread the heavens people wouldn't that be won-der-ful.**


	6. No Regret

**Ha! Told you you wouldn't have to wait long.**

****************************NO REGRET************************************

After leaving the cave and successfully infiltrated the demon village undetected, Sasuke grumbled his goodbyes to the others and separated ways, after stating that it was best if he and Naruto stayed off the main roads for the time being.

Not much later Naruto found himself facing a great gate standing taller than half the trees in the area.

"Waaah, where is this?" has asked in awe, running up to the large gate. He had already removed himself from Sasuke'e arms after they split ways, claiming he suffered enough embarrassment for the day.

"Uchiha", he read the sign aloud. "That's your name right?" he looked over at said Uchiha to see him already passing through the gate and raced to catch him.

"Yes. This is my family's land".

"Cool."

As they walked down the empty streets, pass the empty shops, across the empty bridges, through the empty fields, Naruto couldn't help but notice…it was empty.

"Uhm, Sasuke. Where is everyone?"

There was a pause, "There is no one."

He looked back confused, "but then, where does the rest of your family stay?"

"I no longer have a family Naruto. They're dead."

A soft gasp escaped him.

"S-sorry I shouldn't have said anything."

"It was inevitable, don't worry about it."

They continued the rest of the journey in silence only stopping when they arrived at a smaller more secluded house on the other side of the compound. Unlike the other houses around, the neatly arranged wild life that decorated the large yard space was a clear indication that the building was in use. Naruto watched from behind as Sasuke pulled keys from his person, twisted it into the key hole and pushed the door open. He mumbled 'come in' before stepping into the dark room. The teen quickly followed, wincing when the lights suddenly flicked on.

He glanced around the open space, mildly surprised at the lack of décor. It appeared that the aim was to have as little furniture as possible. The room he was currently standing in, the living room, had only a small couch and a coffee table. The kitchen to his left had the basics, a few cupboards, stove, fridge and a small table surrounded by 2 chairs pushed in the far corner. He also noticed that the walls were bare, very bare. No pictures no paintings, nothing to lift the mood of the place even a little. Overall, the house was depressing. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable he directed his attention to the owner, who was busying himself with closing the windows.

"Umm..""

"You need a bath", was the curt command.

"…"

"You need to wash that smell off or others will eventually catch your scent."

Naruto curiously sniffed himself. He had no idea what these people were going on about. What the hell did he smell like?

"Yeah..ok."

After closing the windows the raven looked back at the boy who was still standing by the door and still only wearing his shirt.

"Oh right. You're gonna need clothes. Follow me", and he disappeared down the hall and up the stairs with Naruto at his tail.

They entered what Naruto assumed was Sasuke's bedroom and again wasn't surprised at the lack of furniture. When the raven went into what he thought was the closet, Naruto stayed at the door and took the room in. A double bed near the window and a bedside table was all that inhabited the large room, only using a quarter of the available space. The sheets as well as the drapers were a deep blue making the room slightly less depressing than the rest of the colourless house.

Seconds later Sasuke emerged from the closet holding several articles of clothing, all proudly displaying a strange fan symbol on the fabric.

"I found the smallest clothes I own. Hopefully something fits." He said handing the pile to the smaller boy. "Tomorrow we can go out and get clothes your size."

The blond nodded and clutched the clothing against his chest.

"The bathroom," he pushed past the teen and walked further down the passageway, "is here. Your room is over there. You can put the rest of your things there when you're done."

When Sasuke was done giving the small tour he left Naruto to his business, saying something about getting dinner started, leaving Naruto to watch his figure disappear down the wooden staircase.

Sighing quietly to himself, Naruto pushed the supposed bathroom door open and winced at the contrast of this room with the rest of the house. The white tiles, walls and ceiling almost burnt his eyes as he stepped in.

"Well this was unexpected," he mumbled closing the door behind him.

He moved over to the bathtub and began filling it, eager to soak himself in warmth. As he passed by the mirror he stopped and stared at his reflection for the first time in a long time and noticed how horribly dirty his once radiant skin looked. There were many scratches on his face. Either caused by random evil branches that scraped him as he passed or from being tossed around like a rag doll by those bastard fox killers. His once bright shining blue eyes were dulled to a fainting flicker, showing exactly how tired his body was. He raised his hand to rub the smudges of dirt he found there but paused when he noticed that they too were in a similar state.

He sighed and switched his attention to the now full tub and turned off the pipes before ridding himself of the single piece of clothing. He then gently eased himself into the hot water hissing as it burned his open wounds but felt his muscled relax soon after. He made himself more comfortable in the tub, stretching his legs out and leaning his head against the back, waiting a few minutes before beginning the task of scrubbing away the grime of the day's events.

As the demon man set the final plate on the table his thoughts drifted to his guest, or rather new roommate, who had been taking quite a long time in the bathroom. He really hoped the idiot hadn't drowned himself. No sooner had he thought this, his ears twitched in the direction of the stairs hearing soft thuds as bare feet touched the wooded floor. Seconds later the roommate emerged and Sasuke had to force himself not to attack the unsuspecting blond, whose damp hair was making wet trails down his neck only to disappear behind his dark shirt, which hung loosely on his shoulder even though he had outgrown it years ago. Sasuke continued to let his eyes wander over the lithe body before him and saw that he only wore boxers as a bottom and not the shorts he had provided. Not that he was complaining but hey he was curious by nature.

Naruto must have noticed his questioning gaze because he then answered, "Uh the shorts you gave me were kinda big. They kept falling off so…" he let the rest hang, figuring the solution was obvious enough.

Sasuke watched as the blonde's legs walled across the room to the table where he stood.

"So, what's for dinner?" even though the answer was already sprawled right there under his nose he asked anyway, much to Sasuke's annoyance.

"Beef stew," he replied, motioning for Naruto to take his place.

The meal was going great, considering the fact that he was harbouring a human in his house the paranoid glances to his front door were somewhat minimal and each time he heard his company laugh he felt himself being pulled from every dooming thought in his head to gaze at the smiling face before him.

Naruto gratefully downed the food. After being lost and hungry for so long it was great to finally cease the pitiful cries of his stomach.

"Sasuke, this is great. Never would have pegged you for a chef." Naruto declared cheerfully between spoonfuls of stew.

He smirked and replied, "There are a lot of things about me that you wouldn't peg me for."

"Is that so?" it sounded like a challenge, he loved challenges. "Like what?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

"Ah man, that might take forever." He pouted.

Amused at his childish behavior the raven spoke, "Don't worry, you have time."

"…yeah, I do don't I?"

Sasuke could honestly say he never saw this coming. He watched as the smile on the other's face slowly fell and was replaced with a frown and as tears slowly gathered at the corners of his eyes. He watched as the blonde's shoulders shook as he took in short rapid breaths before wailing on the top of his lungs. The Uchiha flew across the table, kneeling before the crying boy having no clue how to fix the situation.

"T-they kicked me out Sasuke. How could they do that? I don't know what to do or where to go." He sobbed louder while wiping at his tears, cursing when they refused to stop.

"I don't…I don't have anywhere else to go. No one cares. No one gives a shit if I died tomor-".

He stopped short when he was pulled suddenly into a familiar chest.

"Don't you dare say that. I would care." Sasuke pressed his chin against the other's head top and squeezed him tighter while guilty thoughts invaded his mind again. If he hadn't gone to see Naruto that day all of this could have been avoided. If he hadn't been selfish and let it be, everything would have been the way it was supposed to but even with all that spelt out to him, he couldn't bring himself to regret what he had done. If he hadn't done what he had there would be no Naruto in his kitchen clinging to him desperately like a life line and he loved the feeling. He loved knowing that at a time like this he was the only one Naruto could turn to. He was the only one the boy could trust. It made him feel a bit protective of the human, something he had never felt with about anyone else, ever. And as much as he hated how the blond stirred all these emotions in him, he didn't want them to stop. He needed them just as much as Naruto needed him. As the other's cries died down to soft whimpers, Sasuke dragged them both to their feet, grimacing at his now wet shoulder.

He watched as Naruto made a few more hasty attempts to rid his face of tears and felt the corners of his mouth twitch into the usual smirk.

"Dobe," he honestly had no idea why he said that. Before he knew it, it had left his mouth but the damage was done and the results were breath taking.

Naruto had flashed the most adorable smile he had ever witnessed before responding, "way to kill the mood, teme."

And despite the fact that had been insulted he couldn't care. He didn't move his eyes from the face before him. He almost wanted to-

"Sasuke?" the startled whisper of his name jerked him into reality.

He found himself only inches away from the frightened boy, his thumb running gently along his bottom lip.

He drew his hand away quickly and stepped back, shocked at what he had let happen, almost happen.

Naruto ducked his head to hide his embarrassment of being so close to the demon. He didn't want the other to see how flustered he had become just from that. They stood in pregnant silence, both lost in their own thoughts. It was Sasuke who chose to break it first, suggesting that they both get some rest for the night. He lead the way up the stairs, Naruto by his side, but when Sasuke turned to enter his own room Naruto seemed unwilling to part.

"Uh Sasuke?" said person raised an eyebrow in question. "Uh well I saw the room you told me to sleep in and well, it's kinda creepy and lonely in there. Not that I'm scared or anything! It's just that…"

The rest of the sentence fell on deaf ears as Sasuke stared back blankly at the blond, who was still going on about his guest room.

Was this kid serious? Did he not just witness what almost took place in his kitchen? Does he have any idea how close he came to being molested? Obviously not, for the next words that flew from his mouth made Sasuke question just how oblivious one person could be?

"So..can I sleep with you tonight?" and he had the nerve to be asking in such a lewd way. Lips pouting, head titled and eyes pleading silently.

There was no way he could have the idiot next to him in the same bed and not touch him.

"Look Naruto, I don't think that's such a good idea," he stated calmly. He could hear the demon in him protest at his lack of drive.

"Why not?" The dejected tone in his voice was not missed.

"It's just not a good time right now." He growled lowly as the screams in his head doubled.

"Oh ok."

He watched as Naruto went back the other way heading towards his room, head low in disappointment and could have kicked himself for what he knew he was about to do.

"Naruto," said blond looked back hope swelling in his eyes. "If it's just for tonight I guess it won't hurt ouch!"

His back connected with the door when the ball of sunshine threw himself into his arms.

"Thank you thank you. It's just for tonight I promise."

He highly doubted that but nodded anyway watching as the boy practically bounced into his bed and snuggled under the sheets.

Still standing by the door he took in a few deep breaths to collect himself and paused when a loud yawn was heard. Naruto was now sitting up in bed stretching his hands above the head board causing the slightest lift of his shirt and exposing his tan stomach. A second later his hands dropped and the shirt once again slipped into place.

"Aren't you coming to bed?" he asked in a cute naïve manner.

As he closed the door behind him and shuffled over to the bed he couldn't help thinking to himself, 'Oh god, this is going to be a long night."

**********************************NO REGRET**************************

**Another one bites the dust! Oh!**

**Yeah so Naruto had a little bit of a break down. It would be weird if he didn't. I mean he did get kicked out of his home and was almost killed. I thought it was fitting.**

**So guys read, review and make me happy.**


	7. New Day, New life

**After what seems like forever the next chapter is finally here, yay. The previous warnings still apply ;)**

**And it continues…**

****************************NEW DAY, NEW LIFE****************************************

'…24,25,26,27…'

Despite the fact that he knew perfectly well that there were 67 tiles making up his ceiling, he lay there counting them. If he wasn't sleeping he might as well do something and counting tiles seemed to pass the time nicely but then again counting 67 tiles 82 times can eventually get annoying.

'48, 49, 50, 51…'

It's not that he wasn't tired, far from it, he was beat. Before finding Naruto and returning home, he and the others had spent most of the day on patrol, a job as tedious and it is boring. Although he was in dire need of sleep he could not for the life of him get a wink of it.

'64, 65, 66, 67…1,2…'

The cause lay curled beside him completely ignorant of his troubles. The night has started out uneventful. The two had both got into bed, backs turned to each other and ready to sleep and they both had, at least for the first 15 minutes. After Naruto had dozed off he started shifting in his sleep and he was soon pressed up against his roommate's back, whose eyes immediately snapped open at the contact.

'17,18,19,20…'

The raven slowly faced the blond and was forced to quickly dampen his rising arousal upon seeing the adorable, unsuspecting face before him. Sighing to himself he moved closer the edge of the bed, putting just enough distance between them. He soon found himself at peace and drifting off again until movement from Naruto woke him up again. The blond was once again snuggling against his back and he was once again forced to move over. Soon after he was followed and surrendered to the blond and his sleep because at this point there was no more bed to escape to.

So instead, he spent the entire night staring at the ceiling counting tiles. He groaned when the first signs of the sun peeped through his drapes. Sleep was nothing but a dream at the moment. He cursed at the irony.

Deciding it best to get up he pried the small arms from off him and made his way to the bathroom, not surprised when his drained, crappy reflection screamed back at him. He resisted the impulse to smash the mirror and began stripping for the shower. The cold water was perfect for waking him up for the day.

**************************NEW DAY, NEW LIFE**************************************

'It's too cold. Why is it cold?'

Naruto soon found himself blinking sleep from his eyes. He yawned and rose from under the sheets. As he slowly brought himself back to full awareness his eyes danced across the room..the unfamiliar room.

"Where the hell am I?" he screamed jumping a foot away from the bed.

Seconds later the door was flung open and an alarmed, wet and very naked male came running in.

"What's wrong?" he asked as his eyes scanned the room for danger.

"Sa-Sasuke?" after his brain had finally caught up he realized what was happening around him. "Waaah Sasuke why are you naked?" his face shone bright red when his gaze drifted to the lower half of the demons body.

"Why the hell did you scream!" he retorted.

"I-I didn't scream".

Sasuke looked back at him with a bored expression, "Yes you did. I heard you from down the hall and ran here." He quickly grabbed the sheet from the bed and used it to cover himself.

"Well then sorry I guess. I was a little confused about where I was when I got up."

"Well whatever"

Naruto's scream scared the shit out of him. The possibility of the boy being in danger was constantly high, so Sasuke refused to let his guard down. He watched as Naruto stood by the bed awkwardly trying to avoid his gaze. He found his embarrassed look to be cute but then again, he found everything about the boy cute. A low rumble erupted through the room and an amused smirk spread across Sasuke's face. Well almost everything.

"It hasn't been that long since your last meal".

"Sh-shut up." Naruto could feel the heat rise to his face. "I'm not even that hungry."

As if to mock him, his stomach made another growl. Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle.

"Come on, let's go make breakfast."

**************************NEW DAY, NEW LIFE**************************************

"Sasuke this is ridiculous. Your so called 'small clothes' really aren't that small. It looks like I'm wearing a dress!"

The raven looked up from drying the dishes to glance at the complaining human. Truth be told, it did fit him like a dress and Sasuke had no problem with that but he had a feeling Naruto wouldn't shut up about it until the problem was fixed.

"I'm going to take you to get clothes Naruto, calm down. Go change into something that doesn't make you look like a chick and we can go."

The blond stood frozen in place. Did Sasuke just call him a chick?

"Teme! I do not look like a chick!"

"Hey you're the one that said you looked like you were in a dress." He chuckled as he tossed the towel to the side and spun to face the blond.

"Yeah, I didn't say I looked like a chick though. I clearly look like a guy in a dress." He stated.

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If Naruto thought all males had legs like those he obviously spent his time around the wrong males.

"…yeah ok. Get chanced princess."

"I'm not a princess!"

Sasuke watched him as he bounced up the stairs. These silly games were making his day all the more brighter.

After taking a total of three baths, Sasuke finally declared that Naruto was scentless enough to leave the house. The teen wondered if all demons were as serious as Sasuke was about hygiene, or if he just happened to be the only one crazy about it. Every time he asked him about it, the raven's response was always 'you smell like human'. What the hell was he supposed to smell like?

"Listen Naruto, it's not that hard to understand. If other demons smell that you're human, they'll kill you."

The boy's eyes lit up like a kid stealing form the sugar jar.

"W-what?"

"Well what did you think? You are aware that there's a war between our kinds right?"

"Yeah but, but…I guess I just never thought about that 'til now. I mean all your friends are cool."

"Not all demons have hatred for humans. Some of those just happen to be my friends but others won't hesitate Naruto. If they get the chance they will kill you", he suddenly stopped and looked at Naruto. "Do not give them that chance Naruto."

"Okay, I'll try."

"You won't"

"I-I won't".

"Good."

They continued walking, all the while Naruto's eyes shifted in all directions. It was when they reached the end of the end of the compound that Sasuke's realized the blonde's hesitance to cross the gate.

"Naruto, I'm here with you. There's no way in hell I'm going to let them get you."

The blond was still hesitant and whispered back, as if afraid that his voice would give him away, "you sure?"

With and outstretched hand he replied, "I'm sure."

It was no surprised that Naruto took the awaiting hand, after all, where would he be without his savior.

**************************NEW DAY, NEW LIFE**************************************

As they walked further away from the compound and closer to the town, the streets became more populated with people.

He stared fascinated when a child, playing along the street, transformed to his full demon form to pounce on her playmate.

"Sasuke look. That one looks like a little kitten."

Said raven looked over to where he was.

"She's a panther cub."

"Hm really? I thought all demons were the same. I've only ever seen wolves."

"That's because they mostly use our kind in battle. For the record Kiba is a dog and Shikamaru's a coyote.

"Oh, really?"

"It's hard for humans to tell the difference."

Minutes later they had made it to the congested town. The human stood amazed, he had never seen so many demons before. It was strange how similar the scene looked to his own home, or what use to be his home. There were ladies buying fruits from vendors, children running around in the streets and others conversing about the weather. The only thing missing was him favourite ramen stand.

As they continued to walk the demon populated streets Naruto started noticing something they all had that he didn't. It dawned on him that everyone passing had both animal ears and a tail, he had neither.

He glanced up at Sasuke hoping to catch his eye, not wanting to speak and draw attention to himself but the raven missed it. He tugged on his arm gently to gain his attention.

"In case you've forgotten, I don't have animal ears or a tail. They'll definitely know that I'm not one of them." He spoke, voice barely above a whisper.

"Don't worry about it. They won't know."

"How do you know?"

"I'll explain later. We're here."

Naruto was then pushed into what he found to be a clothing store. As he looked around the store his face slowly lit up and when it did Sasuke knew immediately that he would regret bringing him here.

**************************NEW DAY, NEW LIFE**************************************

"For the love of god Naruto, pick a damn shirt and let's go!"

Said blond ignored the yell of the other and continued to inspect the two shirts in his hands.

"Hmm, this one looks cool, but this one is orange." He bit his lip in concentration.

Sasuke was just about to burst when, "I've decided. I don't want any of them", and off he went to look at another stack of items.

The demon stood there in disbelief. They wasted 5 minutes looking at shirts he didn't even want.

What was the point of that? He never understood shopping anyway. He almost wanted to claw his eyes out.

"Sasuke look! This is perfect." God knows he's heard that several times before. He lazily walked over to the boy who had several pairs of other muti-coloured shirts dangling in his hands.

"Which one is perfect?"

"All of them!"

He couldn't possibly be serious.

"They're all so great I can't choose. Can I have them Sasuke please."

He couldn't resist the face, "Whatever dobe."

"Well get a load of that. The tight ass actually left his house willingly."

Sasuke didn't need to face the speaker to know who it was. Naruto on the other hand spun around instantly.

"Kiba, hi".

"Hey there Naru-chan," he made a move to get closer to the blond teen but one look from Sasuke stopped him dead in his tracks. He chuckled at how protective his friend was being.

"So Naruto, you actually got the loner to step out of his sanctuary in just one day. Impressive. It usually takes an army to do that. He must really have taken a fancy to you-OW!"

A swift slap to the back of the head silenced him.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked while motioning to the store clerk.

"I was on my way from visiting Hinata when I saw this little cutie through the window. I had to stop and say hi." He flashed one of those charming smiles in said cutie's direction.

Sasuke fumed when he saw the boy flush in response. Thank heavens the clerk arrived before he got blood splatter all over the good clothes.

"Yes sir, can I be of assistance?"

"Cash these." He stated, carelessly gesturing to the pile of clothes that Naruto had collected.

"All of them?"

"Yes."

He followed the clerk to the counter pulling Naruto along with him. He ignored Kiba the entire time he paid and when they left the building but it was hard to ignore him while the dog demon waltzed beside Naruto as they made their way further into town.

"What the fuck are you still doing here?" he asked calmly.

"Oh come on, I just wanna hang out with my friend and my new buddy", he swung his arms around Naruto's shoulders, pulling him close.

Images of tearing the offending arm from it's body flashed through his mind.

"Why don't I treat little Naruto to lunch?"

"Why don't you find a cliff to jump off? He's not hungry."

"Why don't you let Naruto decide?"

Both pairs of eyes turned to him, putting him in the spot light.

Sasuke was wrong, he was hungry. They had breakfast almost 5 hours ago but the look Sasuke was giving him almost scared the hunger away.

"Uh…I- I'm-"

"Sasuke!"

The piercing eyes left him to look in the direction of the new voice that bellowed Sasuke's name.

Sasuke was barely allowed the curse that left his mouth before a flash of pink latched unto his person.

"Sasuke! It feels like I haven't seen you in forever. What are you doing here? Oh it doesn't matter. I'm just glad I ran into you. Where are you off to now? We should do something together."

The wolf demon could feel the vein in his head throbbing, "Sakura, release me."

The girl slowly did as she was told but was still practically glued at his side.

It was then that she noticed the others who were with Sasuke. Scrunching her nose she acknowledged them.

"Kiba"

"Bitch", he replied with a smile.

"Ugh, and who might this be?" she scanned Naruto up and down taking note of his appearance and not failing to miss the Uchiha printed clothes that he wore.

Sasuke answered before Naruto could, "he's Naruto."

"Yeah, Sasuke's new roommante. Haven't you heard?" Kiba took pleasure in being the bearer of bad news, at least when it involved Sakura, and he knew that this news was sure to tick her off.

He couldn't help but laugh as her head whipped around to Sasuke messing her once neat hair.

"What? When did this happen?"

Sasuke didn't have the energy to deal with the crap, "does it matter to you?" let's go Naruto."

"No, Sasuke what's going on? Who is this boy?"

"Why do you need to know Sakura?"

As the two conversed on, Naruto couldn't stop gawking at the strange pink feathers that seemed to attach themselves at the end of Sakura's pink hair.

Kiba didn't hold back his laughter at all as he watched the show before him, "They're like an old married couple aren't they?"

For some reason Naruto didn't like the sound of that. Sasuke and Sakura a couple? Sasuke and anyone a couple for that matter. The more he thought about it the more it depressed him. he didn't want someone else taking up his Sasuke's time…did he just refer to Sasuke as his?

"Uh Sasuke."

Said man stopped mid-sentence and turned all attention to Naruto an action which succeeded in frustrating the pink feathered demon further.

"I think I might be hungry. Can we go have lunch now?" he just wanted to get rid of the parasite as soon as possible.

"Sweet! Let's go then," Kiba announced loudly. "Later Sakura."

"Hold on. You're all going to lunch. Why don't I join you?"

"'Cause no bitches are allowed", he replied in a low voice.

Sakura flashed him a glare, "what was that?"

"I'm treating cuties today, not bitches."

"Listen here mutt, call me a bitch one more time."

"Hey cut the crap", Sasuke parted the two before they started sparring in the middle of the street. A crowd had already started gathering around them, curious as to what was going on.

"Let's just go and eat and get on with our lives."

"Fine," Sakura yelled raising her nose in slight protest.

"Whatever".

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, who nervously glanced between the two.

'Why did I bother leaving the house this morning?'

*******************************NEW DAY, NEW LIFE*************************************

**And so ends another chapter. Tell me what you think so far and I'll see you next time**


	8. I'll Be Your Family

**Another one bites the dust folks. Previous warnings still apply.**

**The characters still don't belong to me…oh buggers!**

**And it continues…..**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI'll Be Your **

It was a silent walk to the restaurant but Naruto's thoughts were on a rampage. The whole way Sakura insisted on sticking to Sasuke like a parasite and every time he shook her off, she came right back on again. It was starting to bug him. He could only imagine what Sasuke must have felt. The next time Sasuke shook her off was the last straw. From the other side he was on, he wrapped his arm around Sasuke's and smiled up at him. When the raven made no move to shake him off he smiled even brighter. One glance in Sakura's direction told him how pissed she was at what had just happened. He almost felt sorry for her, almost but he held the arm in his tighter as they strolled along.

They entered the restaurant and were making their way towards an empty table at the back before Kiba's outburst.

"Hey guys" and he took a sharp turn to the left at a nearby table. Naruto recognized one of the occupants as Shikamaru.

"Sup Kiba", the male with small rounded ears responded.

"Hey what's u-Sasuke!", oh joy, another one.

The blond haired girl, with strange horns coming from her head, quickly rose up to attack said demon.

"Strange seeing you here."

Naruto suppressed a groan. Is this why Sasuke rarely left the house?

She demanded that they join the table, or rather Sasuke join, ad tried to pull him into the chair next to hers. Sakura would have none of it and more bickering started again. While all that was happening the guys took their seats away from the two hormonal females, leaving them to accompany themselves. When they finally realized that Naruto was already seated beside Sasuke they both sent twin glares his way and took their seats.

"So Sasuke, who's your friend?" Ino asked while sipping delicately at her cup.

The thought of having to repeat the same conversation he had earlier with Ino, made him almost want to leave the table.

"Sasuke's new roommate, haven't yah hear?" it was Sakura who responded, in the same mocking tone Kiba had done with her earlier.

Ino's hand flew to her mouth, an attempt to stop the release of the warm liquid that threatened to spew.

No one missed the sigh of the sleepy looking brunette from the corner, "This is gonna be so troublesome."

"Say what?" her head too spun in SASUKE'S DIRECTION.

She said nothing. Waiting for the wolf demon to confirm or deny, preferably deny but no response came. Sasuke didn't even look her way. He gave no acknowledgement that he was even listening to their conversation.

"Sasuke, what's going on? How did you get a roommate all of a sudden?"

Why the hell did it even matter to them? What, they ran his life or something? Naruto sat back and watched the drama. The more Sasuke ignored them, the more ticked off the seemed.

Sakura was just about to comment when the waitress bounced over, her long spotted tail swinging behind her.

"Welcome, you guys ready to order."

"Oh yes we are", Kiba declared and grabbed the closest menu.

Everyone followed suit and quickly relayed their order with the waitress. When she had left, the table went back to silence and Sasuke sure as hell wasn't going to start up a discussion. So Naruto, never the one to stay quiet for long, started up the introductions.

"Hi I'm Naruto. Nice you meet you guys."

The chubby fellow with the brown rounded ears smiled at him, "the name's Chouji. Nice to meet you. This sleepy one here is-"

"Shikamaru, I know. We met yesterday."

Ino's and Sakura's eyes grew the size of saucers.

"Wait, shika, you knew about this?" Ino questioned.

No response.

"How could you not tell me something so urgent?"

Everyone failed to see how Sasuke gaining a roommate was so called 'urgent' news.

"Sasuke, I don't get you. You barely let anyone on your compound much less your house."

"And to have him live with you?" Sakura added, "That's just weird." And totally unfair, she wanted to say.

"The blond bitch is Ino, Naruto." Kiba informed as the two went on. "Sakura's best friend and worst enemy."

Strange.

"Nice to meet you Ino",, he shot one of his adorable innocent smiles her way.

She had to force herself to look away.

"Seriously though, who is he?" Sakura demanded.

The table once again was thrown into silence and all eyes turned to the new kid and Sasuke. He couldn't avoid it anymore.

"You've been told before that he will be living with me."

"For how long?" Ino interrupted.

"….a while."

A while? Naruto looked over at him. Did that mean that he would be kicked out eventually?

"Why is he staying with you?" she chimed in again.

"Circumstances."

The girls both gave him narrowed eyes. They knew what he was doing. Vaguely answering their questions the way he was, he was hiding something and they didn't like it.

"So where's he from?" she finally asked while leaning over the table, closer to Naruto.

"Around."

If it was anyone else both girls would slap the arrogance right off his face but it wasn't anyone else, it was Sasuke and as pissed off as they were of the situation, they still couldn't bring themselves to be truly angry at him.

"Order's ready", the bouncing waitress had returned with their trays of food.

That ended all conversations about Naruto, the mysterious Sasuke stealer, for now at least.

*********************************Family***************************************

After finally separating from the rest of the 'gang', Sasuke and Naruto took an off road detour back home. This way led them through the grassy planes a few miles behind the Uchiha compound. Sasuke stood back and watched as his blond roommate chase the butterflies happily dancing around him. he was always amused by such simple things.

When the butterflies eventually left him, Naruto ran over to Sasuke with a bright smile, "this place is so beautiful Sasuke. Look at all the flowers."

He agreed. The field was beautiful. The multi-coloured display of seemingly endless flowers and lush greenery made the location a popular one for couples. He now questioned why he brought Naruto to a place of romance.

"Let's take a rest over at that tree."

"Sure."

They sat under the shade of the tree, mesmerized by the peaceful scene before them. Naruto found it really peaceful here. Not at all what he thought the demon world would be like. Speaking of which.

"Sasuke."

Said person gave him a grunted response.

"Explain to me why no one knew I was human."

"Well, there are some demons that don't show any demon traits", the blank stare that came his way made him elaborate. "Meaning, some demons can look like you do, human. So fortunately for your case, we see with our nose now our eyes."

"Really? But all the ones I saw today all had ears or a tail or weird horn things like Ino."

Sasuke chuckled as he watched Naruto illustrate each feature with his small hands.

"They weren't horns, they were antlers. Ino's a deer demon."

"Cool! And and what's Sakura and Chouji? I figure Sakura is some kind of bird, with all those feathers she has in her hair."

"She's a hawk demon and Chouji, a bear."

"That's super cool but still, I didn't see any other human-looking ones in town."

"That's because they're very rare. Only one demon kind was able to willfully rid themselves of their demons features but they died out long ago."

"Why?"

"It's best not to get into that." He leaned back against the tree to get more comfortable. "For the rest of us, these features show our maturity and strength."

"How so?" he too leaned back as Sasuke did.

"When we're born we start out just like you, human but as we age our demon traits develop. The faster they do develop the stronger you are."

"Wow. So when did yours develop Sasuke?"

"A few days before my first birthday."

"Woooow….is that good?"

Sasuke chuckled at his lack of understanding, "yes it's good. The average demon doesn't show them until five or six. The really weaker ones show even later than that so here you could pass for a retarded demon and not raise suspicion."

"Hey! That's not cool. Wait, so that you're like super powerful" he said, eyes sparkling with amazement.

"It's expected of all Uchihas", he replied dryly.

Naruto noticed the abrupt change in tone, "You ok? I'm starting to see why Ino and Sakura are all over you all the time now. You're basically like, a super hero to them or something. Everyone must love you!"

Sasuke didn't respond for a moment. He didn't move, didn't blink, he barely even breathed. Naruto sat there watching him, confused with his changes in behavior.

"Sasuke", no response. "Are you ok?"

"Hm?" the raven finally broke out of his trance, "you said something"

"Are you ok?" he asked again, leaning closer to inspect the man.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"You sure? You looked really pained a while ago. On no. Was it something I said? I'm sorry."

Sasuke almost smiled at his concern. He lifted his hand to ruffle the boy's golden locks.

"It's ok Naruto. I was just remembering something."

Naruto was about to ask what it was, but let it go. Sasuke however, could see the curiosity stamped on his face and continued.

"I once had a brother", Naruto was all ears. "His name was Itachi and surprisingly when he was born, he had already developed his demon features."

Naruto knew what that meant. This Itachi person must have been seriously powerful then.

"Only extraordinarily great demons were born this way. He was the second one in history so it wasn't hard to see why people treated him like a god. He learned everything quickly and did it all to perfection. No one could top him and my father loved that. He spent all his time and effort making Itachi happy. So when he asked for a younger sibling he was quick to fulfill the wish. Of course he probably had his own reasons for doing it. Probably was hoping to have two great sons but it wasn't so. I was born the way all of us should be, and from that moment on I was nothing but a failure in his eyes. Everything I did I was compared to Itachi. It didn't matter that compared to everyone else I was a genius. Didn't matter that I had developed at age one, something even he didn't accomplish. No. he had already seen perfect and it clouded his sight. If you weren't my brother, you were nothing. You say everyone loves me?" he laughed bitterly. "I tried so hard to get the love of the one person I shouldn't have needed to try to get love from."

"I-I'm sure he loved you. Maybe je just didn't know how to show it" even he wasn't convinced with his argument.

Naruto couldn't understand how a parent could have no love for their child but then again he was no expert on family love himself. He's never seen or heard from his parents. He often assumed that they weren't able to take care of him but after hearing Sasuke's story he wondered if they just didn't love him enough to keep him. He shook his head of such thoughts. Granny had told him that it wasn't their wish to be separated from him and that's what he'd believe. She'd never lie to him like that.

"It's ok Sasuke. Forget about that mean old man. That was totally retarded of him anyway."

"Yeah I know. It's the past now. My dad's been dead for over fifty years now anyway."

Naruto looked at him confused. Something didn't add up, "Fifty years?"

"Yeah", he rose from the grass and started walking away, "we better get out of here before it gets too dark."

Naruto still sat there frozen. How could his father have died fifty years ago….and still have had Sasuke…

"Sasuke, how old are you?"

"What was that? Come on, let's go. Why are you still sitting there?"

"Wait up", he got up and raced towards him. "How old are you?"

"Hm, I'm 23"

He was even more confused.

"You…knew your father before he died?"

"Yes."

"Then I don't get it. You said he died fifty years ago so…how could you have known him?"

"What do you mean how? I'm just twenty th-oh, I forgot. You humans age differently don't you."

"Huh" was he ever going to be thrown into the loop?

"How old are you?"

"15"

"Right, so you've been alive for 15 years right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I've been living for 103 years."

He couldn't possibly have said he was 103 years old.

"What?"

"We live for a very long time Naruto, unless something happens of course. So I'm 23 but my true age is 103. We age much slower than you do."

"…how…..interesting? So you mean to tell me, that those kids we saw earlier could very well be older than me?"

"Pretty much."

"Uhuh. Lovely."

He really needed to get the guide book to this place or something. There had to be an easier way to get all this information.

*********************************Family***************************************

The two spent the rest of the night lazing about and chatting, well Naruto was chatting. Sasuke just sat there listening to tale after tale of Uzumaki adventures. He had to admit, they were quite amusing, though most of them involved him getting into some trouble or other.

When it was time to retire, Sasuke made his way to his room and was surprised when his roommate simply wished him good night and went further down the hall to his room.

'Might actually get some sleep tonight', he thought as he closed the door.

He got comfortable under the sheets and was just about ready to doze off when, "Sasuke".

The raven didn't even try to hide the smile that came over him. he simply shifted over on the bed and pulled the sheets back, a sign of welcome for Naruto, who gladly accepted.

**Remember to tell me what you think guys. That's the only way I'll know if I'm doing it right or not. **

**Special thanks to all my reviewers! **


	9. A Happy Home

**Previous warnings still apply**

**Disclaimer: Would you believe that after all this time, I still haven't save enough to buy these guys from Kishimoto. Damn**

**Wow, so I must apologize to my readers. I don't know what happened (well actually life did) but anyway I finally got off my ass and took the time to type the next chapter. As usual, hope you guys enjoy this.**

**And it continiues….**

******************************HOME**** *****************************************

It took a couple of months for Naruto to feel completely at home in the new village. It took him another couple of weeks for him to befriend every old granny, grandpa and child and another couple of weeks for Sasuke's house to undergo the most drastic make-over that it had ever seen.

"Oh my God Sasuke, the place looks amazing", Ino announced as she stepped in.

His once dull home was filled with colours and decorations on every wall. Naruto had declared that the previous style was "boring" and "depressing to be around" and Sasuke figured that since he lived there too, the blond should at least be allowed to make the place for comfortable for himself. Maybe add a couple of vases, change the curtains, that sort of thing. He never imagined that the next day a stamped of people would be invading his house, removing all his old furniture and replacing them with, as Naruto calls, "less drab ones".

When all the furniture was moved in Sasuke thought that would be the end of it, he was sadly mistaken. The following day, a crew of painters barged in with tins of various colours and wallpapers, ready to attack the walls. They painted where ever Naruto told them while Sasuke sat back and watched it happen. He surrendered to it all but when the blond teen wanted to re-do his bedroom in bright orange he put his foot down. There was no way in hell that obnoxious colour was going to be the last thing he saw at night and the first thing when he woke up. After much pleading on Naruto's part, they finally came to an agreement. So now the room was a deep blue, something Sasuke was surprisingly fond of.

Overall the somewhat drastic changes Naruto had done grew on him a lot faster than he had anticipated. After seeing the place in a new light he regrettably admitted that the cold feel had completely left. The space now looked and felt like someone lived there and he was just fine with that. What he wasn't fine with however was what happened last week, just a few days after the miraculous transformation. Naruto had insisted that they throw a house warming party since the house was now 'technically' new. Sasuke had dismissed the idea without a second thought and carried on with his day all the while ignoring Naruto's warning that 'an Uzumaki never quits'. Sasuke soon found out just how true that was. Naruto persisted to persuade him every hour of every day to the point of exhaustion. In the end the blond idiot had won. So he agreed to have a small gathering for two hours, after which everyone would be kicked off his property.

So here he was forced to welcome people as they arrived. He had never had so many people in his house before. In fact, aside from his small circle of friends, he wasn't really sure if anyone else had ever set foot on his family's compound much less his house. After allowing Ino entrance he went back to his usual corner with Shikamaru, Neji and Kiba.

"I still can't believe this is happening", Kiba had said for the fifth time since he arrived.

"Ok Kiba, we get it", Sasuke declared quite annoyed with the dog's repetition.

"I for one never thought I'd see the day. Sasuke hosting a party..wow".

"Will you shut it already", the raven growled.

"Alright alright. Geez. That attitude of yours still needs some improvement. I should tell Naruto to work on that next".

Kiba had just barely ducked away from the punch headed his way.

Sasuke unclenched his fist and watched the mutt dance away.

"Calm down Sasuke. You let that idiot rile you up too easily", Neji commented.

Sasuke ignore him and took another sip at his drink.

"But seriously, this kid hanging around has been one of the best things to happen to you."

"Agreed", Shikamaru said, adding his two cents.

"Never would have imagined you'd welcome your house to anyone".

"I did it so the idiot would shut up" Sasuke said defensively.

"And since when did you let anyone bully you into anything?"

Sasuke didn't answer.

"All I'm saying is, it's nice to see another side of you too".

The others had walked off to mingle with the crowd, leaving Sasuke along to think. Looking around, he spotted Naruto in the centre of the room. Laughing it up with some others he had met in the village. No doubt telling another one of his exciting stories. It was always fascinating to see how this one blond ball of energy could attract people's attention so effortlessly. Sasuke continued to watch as the teen animatedly told his tale to his listeners and found himself smiling at the scene. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever picture anything quite like this. Since meeting Naruto a lot of strange changes have been happening and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying it even a little. With that thought in mind he pushed himself off the wall and made his way over to Naruto, who didn't hesitate to smile up at him as he got closer.

"Hi Sasuke. Are toy enjoying he party?" he asked.

Truthfully he wasn't so fond of the thought of all these people in his home but seeing the kid's happy face seemed worth it to him.

"Yeah".

Keeping to his promise….everyone got the boot two hours later. There was only so much he could take in one night. He and Naruto stood guard at the door as people filed out one by one. The whole time Naruto shouted wishes of "safe travel" and "I hope you enjoyed yourselves" as they passed.

Overall everyone seemed content with the night's events…well almost everyone. Naruto wasn't sure if the bored expression on Shikamaru's face ever changed. Regardless, he was pleased with himself.

The last few persons to leave were Kiba, who was busy gobbling down the remainder of the left overs, Hinata, who was trying desperately to get Kiba to leave the food and Sakura, whom Naruto really wanted to leave his house.

"K-Kiba-kun, I think they want us to leave now", Hinata announced tapping on the dog demon's shoulder.

Naruto laughed, "It's ok Hinata. He can go when he's finished."

Sasuke didn't remember agreeing to such a thing but let it pass. His main concern was the other guest that refused to leave.

"Saskura-"

"Will you be going to the festival this year?"

Sasuke was slightly thrown off guard by the sudden question.

"I hadn't thought about it. Why?"

"It's just that you never go and I'd really like you to go this year…with-".

"Go where?" you could always count on Naruto to barge into conversations at the right time.

Sasuke saw how Sakura's soft expression hardened at his intrusion.

"It's none of your concern but there's a yearly festival-".

"A festival!" Naruto's eyes lit up much to Sasuke's amusement and Sakura's annoyance.

"Yes a festival. It-"

"What kind?" he enquired.

"Hey brat are you gonna let me finish my sentence or what?"

Naruto puffed up his cheeks but said nothing.

"Geez, there's a yearly firefly festival. Everyone gathers in the fields on the other side of town and watches the fireflies dance at night. It's a really romantic setting", she added under her breath, "and my last chance before _that _starts."

"Fire..flies? That sounds kinda familiar".

"It's probably the equivalent to your fireworks festival Naruto." Sasuke stated walking over to grab Kida by the collar.

"Ah, that's it! So you guys have that too huh? How come you never go Sasuke?"

The raven, who was already pushing Kiba out the door, gave a typical Shikamaru response, "too troublesome".

"Well would you make an exception this year?" Sakura asked him, pouting her lips a little, hoping that it would entice the other demon.

"Hn" was all he said while holding the door open, a clear indication for her to get out.

"Well think about it ok?" she pleaded as she walked out, gently brushing her hand against Sasuke's own who showed no indication of noticing it.

Naruto however did and was tempted to shove her out the door and slam it. When Sasuke finally closed the door he relaxed and went around the room collecting trash. Sasuke, taking one look at the mess around the room had only one thing to say,

"Never again".

Naruto laughed.

After finally restoring order to the household, Naruto and Sasuke settled down to enjoy the rest of the rest the evening. The raven could feel sleep creeping up on him when Naruto broke the silence.

"Hey Sasuke."

"Hmm", he felt much too lazy to say much else.

"How come you don't go to the um firefly festival?"

"I told you before", he just really wanted to stop talking but knowing Naruto…

"That didn't qualify as real reason teme."

Sighing to himself, the raven surrendered and accepted that Naruto wasn't going to shut up until he was satisfied with an answer.

"Because Naruto, it's not really something you go to alone".

"Why don't you just go with Neji and the others? I'm sure they would go with you."

"It's not something you bring friends to either".

Naruto didn't get it, Sasuke could tell.

"Sometimes I wonder how you function daily. It's a couple's festival Naruto."

The wires started to connect in Naruto's head, "Oh I see…"

Sasuke thought the conversation was finally over.

"So….you've never had anyone to take?" so much for that thought.

"No and don't ask why. I just didn't. The end."

"T-then are you going to go with Sakura this year?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the question. Who in their right mind would do that to themselves? Has the teen not been paying attention to his interactions with the hawk demon this whole time. Nothing at all would even slightly hint to the possibility of that happening. Ever in life. He was about to state this until he saw the brooding face beside him. Why was everything this kid does end up being ridiculously cute?

"Why do you ask?" he chose to say instead.

The blond looked embarrassed and lowered his gaze. Sasuke swore he saw the faint hint of a blush on his cheeks.

"No…no reason. Just 'cause she asked is all".

Watching the human squirm beside him got his blood boiling. He wanted to tease him more.

"Would it bother you if I did?" Like that would ever happen but it was all for a cause.

He watched Naruto bite his lips. That one gesture created so many raging thoughts coursing through his head. He could hear the beast again, feel his breathing getting shallow but he had to focus and force himself to stay calm. If he didn't, who knows what he'd end up doing to the boy in front of him.

"Y-y-yes", the response was said so softly that only a demon would have picked it up.

At this point Naruto's face was bright red from embarrassment. He was too adorable to keep his hands off. He felt himself slowly raise his hand and place it behind the other's neck. Naruto jumped in response but didn't pull away.

He slowly pulled this blushing boy closer, all the while keeping his eyes on his delicious lips. His thoughts were bouncing all over his head. He was so close now, the teen's breath was blowing on his face…but then he heard Naruto gasp and jump and bit in his grasp. It was then that he realized that his demon eyes had come out without him knowing.

"Shit", he quickly let go and put distance between them.

How could he be so careless? He almost lost control of himself. Who knows what might have happened after he let that side of him free. This was not acceptable and it was becoming harder to keep his hands off Naruto, especially since it as getting closer to _that _time.

Before Naruto could say anything to lighten the mood a bit Sasuke was on his feet and walking out the room mumbling something about a shower before he disappeared up the stairs.

Naruto sat there for a while longer still stunned at what he thought was about to happen and disappointed that it didn't. He could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears and pushed his hand against his chest in hopes of calming it. He always knew he found Sasuke attractive but right now it felt like more than that. He was literally shaking with the thought that Sasuke had wanted to kiss him. Or at least he hoped he had wanted to kiss him. He looked over at the stairs where Sasuke had just disappeared hoping that the raven demon would come walking back in to sweep him off his feet. Heat rose to his cheeks when he thought about it more. He couldn't believe he was thinking these things. They made him feel warm inside and didn't help his heart rate one bit.

"When did I….fall in love with Sasuke?"

**********************************HOME************** ***************************

**Hehehehe There you have it. Yes yes I know. Why didn't he kiss him? Well you'll find that out in the next chapter, which I've already started working on. I promise it will not take a year next time :D. Let me know what you think. I honestly think I've gone rusty. Hoping to get back into my writing groove as I continue.**

**Ja ne! **


	10. Just Do It

**Disclaimer: Can't own what I can't pay for**

**So, this doesn't seem as long as the previous chapter. I can't remember I'm really not keeping count of these things. I don't really have anything more to say than I hope you like it and ONWARDS!**

*************************************DO IT***************************************

"So basically you're afraid of what you might do to him?" Kiba questioned as he jumped down from his spot on a tree branch.

They once again found themselves on a boring and uneventful patrol. Much unlike his usual self Sasuke suddenly began to speak his worries to the others about Naruto. The situation was slightly amusing to them. Never had they ever expected Sasuke of all people to have these problems. During their years of friendship Sasuke had not once sought advice about anything in his life. It was always them who had news to announce or worries to share. Like Kiba a few months back, announced that he had finally worked up the courage to wed Hinata, his lover of 15 years. Yet here was Sasuke, trapped in a predicament he had no control of and forced to seek the opinions of his closest companions.

"You do know that this is only going to get worse?" Kiba stated.

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course he knew this. He was a demon after all. Even he fell prey to _that._

"The way I see it, you don't have much time left."

"Stating the obvious."

They went on in silence for a while. Each too captured by their own thoughts. It was Shikamaru who spoke first, "The solution is simple."

Impossible. If the solution was simple the Uchiha himself would have thought of it. He wouldn't have had so many sleepless nights and strange dreams if it was simple. He was curious.

"Oh?" Sasuke stopped walking to fully grasp the simplicity of it all.

Shikamaru smirked his response, "Just kiss him and get it over with."

Both Kiba and Neji burst out laughing.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Sasuke stormed ahead frustrated and convinced that he needed new friends.

"I'm serious."

"Of course you are."

"Honestly, what is stopping you from just kissing him? I for one think it gets worse because you're going against what your body really wants."

Sasuke suddenly felt livid, "what is stopping me? How about the fact that I ruined his life? If I didn't go see him that day he would still be in his own house, in his own village. How about the fact that he's human and I'm a demon? How about the fact that I'm afraid to scare him away because if I did kiss him…"

He never finished the sentence but the message was understood. He had just realized it. He'd been denying it since the first day he saved the blond haired human that night in the forest. There was always an unexplainable attraction towards the boy, he knew that much but he had refused to acknowledge it. He couldn't refuse anymore. He knew it, he felt it. It was a feeling as present as the sun on his face.

"You love him." Neji stated as if cued.

He wanted to deny it as he did before. He wanted to brush the comment off like dust on his shoulder. Why couldn't he?

He felt a heavy hand drop on his shoulder; he didn't have to look up to know that it was Kiba, "welcome to the club."

The others walked off, leaving him to battle with his thoughts for a few minutes longer. The blond human had been the one to get to him. Of all the persons in the world.

"How ironic".

***********************************DO IT*************************************

Naruto was bored. He hated being bored. Try as he might he couldn't find anything in the house that could entertain him for more than 5 minutes. So far he had busied himself with his usual half of the house chores and when that was over he made lunch while complaining about the possibility of never finding ramen in the village. By the end of that he was hoping that it would soon be time for Sasuke to return home. Unfortunately he hadn't even occupied himself for more than 3 hours. Sasuke wouldn't be back until sun down, so he chose to rest in the garden.

"It's so boring without him here", with only himself in the house, Naruto had adapted the habit of speaking his thoughts aloud sometimes. Less lonely.

He sighed and dropped back into the soft grass. Since he'd been living in the new village he'd spent most of his days with Sasuke. It felt like he hadn't been alone in ages. Thinking back, he had no idea how he ever survived being alone so much before. He didn't want to go back to that.

"A while", he suddenly remembered Sasuke's comment when he first got here. It still bothered him every now and then but he was constantly conscious of the fact that he had no idea how long he would be allowed to sponge off the wolf demon. He had been ecstatic when Sasuke agreed to the makeover. Not only did it mean he could be more comfortable living in the house but it also meant that Sasuke's "a while" might not be that short term, he hoped at least.

Aside from with Sasuke he had no idea what he would do or where he would go. He had made other friends now yes but none close enough that he would want to impose on them. Well maybe Kiba but at times he could get very strange. He wondered how Hinata controlled him on her own. The last time he saw those two, Kiba was begging for forgiveness after he forgot to meet the girl's father at his dojo that afternoon. When she finally forgave him, he leaped into her arms and showered her with kisses. Naruto smiled to himself. Recently he'd been imagining himself being showered with kisses from a certain someone. An image that might not come to light. Ever since that night after the party, Sasuke had been very distant. He no longer looked him in the eyes when he spoke, nor did he tease him like he grew accustomed to doing. Even when they slept together Sasuke managed to keep his distance and he was always up hours before Naruto was. Had their relationship taken a step back when he was just hoping that it was starting to move forward?

"Stupid Sasuke."

It frustrated him that he felt this way and yet couldn't voice his thoughts to the person he wanted to. He had no clue of how to even bring the topic up. 'Hey Sasuke, I think I might be in love with you' just did not do it. Even if he did say it, what next? Worst case scenario was that Sasuke completely rejected him. Then what? He sure as hell wouldn't want to be living here anymore. There's no way he could face him after that. So he'd defiantly be out of a home. What if he did accept? Could humans and demons even be together? He was pretty sure that was a no. Only Kiba, Shikamaru and Neji even knew that he was human and only a handful of villagers even knew of his existence. Sasuke preferred it this way. What were to happen if he somehow got found out? Well he knew what would happen to him but what were the consequences for Sasuke?

This was too much to think about, it was giving him a headache. Maybe things were better the way they were heading now.

He sighed again and rolled unto his side. He just wanted Sasuke, why'd it have to be so hard?

***********************DO IT************************************************ *

It was later than he had expected to return but he was finally back. The sun had gone down a few minutes ago and night was already creeping in. He had told Naruto that he'd be back before dark so he hoped the little brat hadn't been up worrying about it. As he approached the house he immediately noticed that it was dark inside. No light? Had Naruto gone to bed early? Extremely early?

The demon quickened his pace as he made his way to the house, very uneasy about the lack of lights. He flung open the front door and was very displeased to find that Naruto had left it unlocked. He had told the blond constantly to keep the door locked when he was out but he could chastise him about that later. First he had to find him. He stood still, listening for any sounds that would indicate the boy's presence in the house but there was none.

"Damn it Naruto", Sasuke cursed as he began his rampage through the house.

He violently flung doors open hoping each time to see that idiot grin across the cute dobe's face, with those bright eyes staring back at him but for every door he unlocked disappointment followed and panic slowly crept up behind it. After searching the entire house and finding no sign of the human Sasuke could do nothing to cease the barrage of bad thoughts that attacked his head but he tried to stay focused. He needed to take action not stand back like a weakling.

'Shit. Ok think. Where haven't I checked? Could he be anywhere else on the compound? Could someone have taken him? What could they have done to him?'

A million questions flew through his head before one detail jumped out at him.

'The garden.'

He raced outside and to the back of the house. He stormed into the garden area eyes frantically surveying the wildlife. It was then that he saw a flash of yellow from the corner of his eye. He turned towards what he hoped, prayed, was Naruto and dashed over. As he got closer he found his prayers had been answered. For there, lying on the grass almost completely hidden by a rose bush was a sleeping Naruto.

Pure relief washed over Sasuke. He couldn't remember being this worked up in his life before. It almost surprised him at how worried he was about the blond and how completely powerless he was to such a feeling. The thought of something happening to Naruto made his world crumble. How could he have gone back to his previous life? How could he wake up in the mornings and find himself alone in bed? How could he go on living? He truly cared deeply for him. This human boy. There was so much wrong about this. How could it possibly even work out? But he really didn't care. All he knew was that the day this boy stopped breathing was the day his heart would stop.

He chuckled to himself. Never in a million years did he think this would happen. He looked down at the sleeping blond who was so oblivious to the internal battle he was having with himself and to the amount of concern he has just subjected the demon to. As he thought more about that fact the more he found himself being slightly peeved by the situation. The blond had not a care in the world not knowing or probably not even caring that the Uchiha Sasuke was in love with him.

"This little brat."

He gave Naruto a small push with his feet. Said boy jerked slightly but otherwise remained unfazed by the attack.

This annoyed Sasuke even more, so he gave him a stronger push, "Dobe wake up."

Upon hearing his nick name Naruto mumbled something incoherent before eventually opening his eyes lazily. He sat up, yawned and stretched before noticing the fuming male standing over him.

"Uh, hi Sasuke. When did you get home?"

Sasuke took a deep breath in before responding, "You left the front door unlocked…again."

Naruto grew pale, "S-sorry. I don't know why I keep forgetting."

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. He really had no reason to be angry at Naruto. It wasn't a crime to take a nap in the garden. Besides he was still too relieved to find him unharmed and safe. Seeing Naruto still sitting on the ground he outstretched a hand for the boy to take. Naruto gingerly stretched his hand to Sasuke's, still afraid that the raven was angry with him about the unlocked door. He was surprised, however, to be pulled straight into the chest of the demon and even more surprised when the other's arms embraced him for a hug. Naruto could feel blood rushing to his cheeks again.

They stood there in silence, neither of them wanting to let go. It was then that Sasuke heard Shikamaru's words replay in his head, _'just kiss him'. _The words repeated over and over again. There was no doubt that he wanted to but was it right? Would Naruto oppose?

He took a small step back, just enough for him to see the blushing red face before him. Naruto's parted lips were so tempting. He drew closer. Wanting desperately to press his lips together with those delicious ones in front of him. He could hear his heart pounding and if he listened closer he could even hear Naruto's but for a brief moment the thought of rejection flashed into his mind. If he did this there would be no going back. Whether Naruto wanted him or not he wouldn't be able to let the boy go and the last thing he wanted was for Naruto's life to get worse for him.

So he chose to stop and he chose to let go. He noticed the sad smile that Naruto had given but didn't put much thought into it.

"Let's go back inside. You should be hungry by now."

Naruto nodded in agreement. They made their way back towards the house, both disappointed and both wishing for more than what they had.

*************************************DO IT***********************************

**Le fin. Now doesn't that just suck and here we were hoping for a kiss. I don't know about you but I'm thoroughly disappointed too. If I were you I'd complain to the author….wait never mind. **

**You know the drill. Thoughts? Opinions? Let's hear em.**


	11. New Resolve Under Dancing Lights

**Warning and Disclaimer: Everything's the same. Nothing will ever change. **

**Guys, this chapter is long. Like...loooong. I almost wanted to split the chapter but I decided that I really couldn't keep you guys from this any longer. So here is the next installation. I hope you all like it. We won't know until you read.**

**It continues **

**************************RESOLVE******************* ***************************

"Hinata, do you think there's something wrong with me?"

After sulking for days following the garden incident, Naruto had opted to spend some time away from the raven haired demon and sulk elsewhere. Of course when he told said person that he wanted the change in scenery Sasuke's immediate response was, no. Then began the all too familiar lecture about how 'unsafe' it was for him to wander off alone and if he needed a change in scenery, Sasuke would see to it that he was escorted by him and him only. Which Naruto felt defeated the purpose in the first place. After much argument and persuasion on Naruto's part, Sasuke had agreed to a new arrangement. He would escort the blond to the Inuzuka residence and leave him there for the day, then return and escort him back home. Spending the day with Hinata had become a regular occurrence for Naruto, which surprisingly Sasuke had no problem with. The Inuzuka household was one of the few places that Sasuke felt was safe enough to leave Naruto at. He knew no harm would come of him there. Between Kiba and Hinata not one hair on Naruto's head would be harmed. As fragile as the eagle demon might seem she packed a powerful punch.

So here was Naruto. Watching Hinata as she practiced her combat skills in her dojo. He was still amazed at how she seemed to effortlessly dance across the wooden floors with such grace to deliver those deadly attacks. She paused for a moment, taking in the question Naruto had directed at her.

"Why do you ask such a question?"

"It's just that..." he pondered how much he should tell her, "I dunno. I guess I'm just thinking too much I guess."

Hearing the distress in her friends voice, Hinata ended her training session and made her way over to the pouting teen.

"Naruto-kun, there's nothing wrong with you. Whatever you are thinking to make you come to that conclusion you should stop thinking it immediately."

"I suppose."

"Well I don't suppose. I know." she smiled sweetly at him before she rose from her spot on the floor to grab her towel on the other side of the room.

Naruto watched her curiously. He was still debating how much he could disclose with her in his head. She was a friend, yes and a very close one but this was a strange thing to bring to even a friend. At least he thought it was. He needed someone to talk to regardless so he chose to confide in her.  
"Hinata...can I tell you something?"

The girl seemed taken aback by such a question, "Of course".

"Uh...well. I don't really know how to say this but umm I think I might be in love...with Sasuke".

The other's face twisted in confusion but only for a moment, "well of course you are."

It was Naruto's turn to be confused, "what do you mean 'of course you are'?"

"First of all you said 'you think' which is incorrect because I'm quite sure that you know that you're in love with Sasuke. Second, if you're just figuring this out then you're really slower than I believed. Must also be as a result of your lack of demon maturity."

"Lack of whaa?"

Oh right. He had almost forgotten his cover. The reason he was able to walk about the demon village without being questioned was because Sasuke had spread the word that he was a 'late bloomer' of sorts. He silently wished there had been a better cover up story than having him posed as a retarded demon but beggars can't be choosers he supposed.

"Wait, what do you mean if I'm just figuring this out?"

"I mean I just kind of thought that you and Sasuke were...together." she started up her old habit of playing with her fingers.

"Why would you think that?"

"You both live together AND you're never away from each other for very long AND Sasuke seems very protective towards you."

She let those words sink in for a bit. "Do you realize that he follows you everywhere?"

He did realize but it wasn't for the reason she thought. He was a human in a demon world and anything could happen to him if he were by himself. Sasuke made sure to always be with him when he left the compound and they really only left if it was necessary. Except for times like this when he just really needed to get out of the house.

"Do you also realize that he lets no one else get near you?"

He realized that too but he just figured that was the bastard being...the bastard.

"You may not know this about the earlier Sasuke because you weren't around but Sasuke was a very distant person. You can probably still see that now but he was far worse. He almost never left the Uchiha compound. He never let anyone enter either. In all my years of knowing Sasuke I've never been to his house until the party you had. Come to think of it, I'm sure that's the same for most of us really."

Naruto thought about it. He knew Sasuke was definitely cold person but I guess he just really never thought of it much.

"You're changing him Naruto."

"I am?

"You are and you only change for the person you love."

"...the...person you love huh? Wait, are you saying..."

"Yes I am saying. Sasuke is in love with you too."

Impossible That was the first word that flew through Naruto's head. If Sasuke was in love with him then...all of his worrying would have been for nothing. Besides , if Sasuke loved him the kisses he'd been dreaming about wouldn't just be dreams but as much as he told himself that it could not be possible, apart of him really wanted to believe that he did.

"I highly doubt that Hinata."

The hawk demon sighed, walked to the centre of the dojo and assumed her starting pose, "Only time will tell Naruto."

It was a quiet walk back. Shortly after Naruto's conversation with Hinata, Sasuke had showed up to bring Naruto back home. To which the blonde groaned but he grabbed his jacket, said his goodbyes and left. He wasn't ready to face Sasuke yet. There were too many thoughts going through his mind. Too many questions he wished he was brave enough to voice. Apart of him wished he was never put in this situation while the other part of him was just happy to be near the demon. He swore he was never this confused before in life.

He spent most of the walk lost in his thoughts but was jolted out of it when a crowd of teenagers raced past them. All laughing and talking loudly amongst themselves. He missed the days when he was so carefree. They continued on again undisturbed, until another rather large group of kids ran past them again. Just as animated as the first.

"What's got everyone so excited?" he mumbled to himself. Slightly hating them for their happiness.

Sasuke watched the group as they passed raising his eyebrow, "Seems they're anxious about the festival."

Naruto perked up a bit at the sound of festival, "Oh yeah the firefly festival. You don't talk about it at all so I completely forgot about it. When is it?"

"A couple of days."

Naruto nodded to himself as he took in the information, "Must be a really spectacular event to have everyone so hyped up."

Sasuke side glanced the blonde. In truth he had been thinking about the festival quite frequently since the other night. He contemplated taking Naruto. He figured no one would really pay much attention to him on a day like that so there wouldn't be a great possibility of him being discovered and he would be with Naruto all the time. He had made up his mind.

"Naruto would you-".

"Sasuke-kuuuuun."

If there was ever a time to hit a woman he was pretty sure this would have been it. To his great annoyance Sakura was racing towards them waving her arms about like a mad person.

When she came to a stop she was bending over and out of breath. Clearly she had been running for a long distance in order to catch up to him.

"I'm so glad I saw you here. I was just passing through." she said between gasps of air.

She seemed to have used up a lot of energy just to 'pass through'.

"Hello Sakura. Goodbye Sakura." He turned from the girl and proceeded to walk away pulling Naruto along.

"W-wait Sasuke!"

He didn't. She was forced to jog up to him.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Then ask."

"I wanted to...ask you in private", she looked over at Naruto, disgust written all over her face. Naruto glared back at her. Sasuke was one notch closer to hitting her.

"I'm sure it can wait."

"B-but Sasuke. I-I wanted to ask you about the festival."

He knew it was leading to this, "what of it?"

"Will you be going?"

"I will be."

The statement was clearly a surprise for both Sakura and Naruto. They both had similar expressions on their faces.

"Really?"

"Yeah teme, you never said you were going." Naruto stated, including himself in the conversation.

"I recently decided".

He didn't fail to miss the way Sakura's eyes lit up at the statement or the way Naruto's expression fell. He was pretty sure they both had the wrong idea.

"Does that mean...you will be my date to the festival?" she battered her eyes in a way that Sasuke could only imagine was suppose to be flirty.

"No".

"What?!"

"I'm going with Naruto."

"EH?!" both of the exclaimed.

"That is if he'd like to go", Sasuke was watching Naruto now. Waiting for him to say ye or ne.

"Yes!" Naruto was grinning from ear to ear. Two points for him, no points for Sakura.

"There you have it."

Sakura was in disbelief. "Wh- how...Is this a joke? Sasuke I asked you first", again she tried to flirt with him.

"I've made up my mind Sakura. Goodbye."  
They continued to walk ahead, leaving her standing with her mouth gaping. Naruto looked back until they lost sight of her.

"Are you really serious Sasuke?"

"Of course."

Naruto was so happy he could skip. Not that he would...men don't skip. He was all smiles for the rest of the journey back. This might just be the cheering up that he needed.

The day was finally here. The day of the long awaited firefly festival. Naruto had woken up the morning washed from head to toe in excitement. He didn't even care that Sasuke had made him bathe twice as many times as usual. Nothing could bother him at that moment.

Slightly annoyed by the blonde's excitement Sasuke had queried why this was even such a big deal to him. To which Naruto replied, "It's just that I've never really been to a festival before. No one really took me as a kid and even when I was old enough to go by myself it just wasn't all that appealing when you're by yourself."

The more stories Naruto told about his past the angrier Sasuke found himself getting towards humans. If they were all like that then it was no wonder humans and demons were at war. He pushed those feeling aside however. He could do nothing about the past, he had to focus on making the future a whole lot better.

Sometime after lunch Naruto and Sasuke were ready to head out into town. They were to stop by the Inuzuka residence before the festival started. After hearing from Kiba that Sasuke and Naruto would be going to the festival, Hinata made it her duty to dress Naruto in the formal attire for the event. Naruto didn't really know what that meant but he was happy to be involved. So off they went.

Hinata immediately grabbed Naruto by the arm when they stepped into the house. Claiming they had a lot of work to do before Naruto would be presentable for the festival. Sasuke watched as they went down the hallway. It was then that Kiba popped his head out from behind the kitchen wall.

"Oh hey, you're here."

"Hn."

"Charming as usual. How things been going with Naruto?"

Silence.

"Come on. All of a sudden you don't want the advice of your friends anymore. Harsh man."

Why the hell was he friends with this guy again? If a look could kill Kiba would be dust by now.

The Inuzuka winced at the glare being sent his way, "Alright man. I'll get off your back."

"Good."

It was almost an hour later when Hinata bounced around the corner with a wide grin on her face.

"You guys are going to love him."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the irony.

"Alright Naruto come on out."

Seconds later the blond emerged from behind a door, eyes to the floor. The two males in the room stood amazed. Hinata was true to her word. Sasuke was falling in love with Naruto all over again.

Naruto stood draped in an exquisite traditional dark blue yukata. Hinata had even gone the extra mile to change his usual ruffled hair style. His bangs were now parted away from his face showing those beautiful eyes that Sasuke loved staring at and his hair was filled with ornaments to add more flare. All in all Naruto looked gorgeous.

"You look super cute Naruto." Kiba commented but upon hearing Hinata clear her throat he shifted his attention to her, "You look lovely as usual my flower." He walked over to place a soft kiss on her lips. She blushed at the kind gesture. Though Kiba showered her with kind words several times a day she was still not immune to them. She doubted she would ever be at this point.

They had almost forgotten that Sasuke was in the room with them. He'd been silent for so long. The attention was now directed towards him as he stood there awkwardly. Naruto had finally stopped looking at his feet to glance up at the raven demon, waiting for him to say something.

"Naruto, you look wonderful."

Said boy smiled brightly and walked over to him.

"Alright. Now that everyone is looking fabulous we can get out of here."

Everyone made their way through the door, Hinata last. She had lingered behind to lock up when they left. After she had done this she turned back towards the group. Sasuke and Naruto were standing to the side seemingly engaged in a deep conversation. Naruto was trying to stop his hair from flying about in the breeze while Sasuke smiled at the situation.

Hinata sighed to herself. If only Naruto had her eyes, she would be able to see how Sasuke was constantly pushing his chakra unto the blond, a clear sign for other demons to back off. Naruto doubted that Sasuke loved him but this was the proof that she was seeing. Sasuke did love Naruto but she was sure they'd realize this soon enough.

The festival was crowded. Sasuke hated that. Naruto on the other hand, couldn't get enough of it. He weaved and wiggled between people making his way merrily through the great mass of people. Shortly after they had arrived at the festival site they met up with the rest of the group. Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji and Ino. As they went along the group got bigger. Even Sakura had joined them at some point. Much to Sasuke's displeasure. Naruto for once wasn't bothered by her presence today. He was having way too much fun running from booth to booth. He tried as many games as he could and tasted as many of their treats. Everyone was amazed at how much energy the one kid had but it was refreshing to see.

It was nearing the end and everyone had migrated to the open field behind the booths and displays. Naruto had no clue what was going on but he followed the crowd anyway. Everyone seemed to be settling down on the grass waiting for something.

"Hey Sasuke."

"Hm?"

"What's happening now?"

"Well we did the festival part, now we do the fireflies." It was Kiba who answered the question.

"So where are they?"

Sasuke chuckled at the boy's impatience, "Just a few more seconds Naruto."

Sasuke was right. Exactly four seconds later the sky lit up from the lights of what was probably thousands of fireflies. The site was mesmerizing. Naruto stood amazed at the display. There were countless fireflies dancing in the night as if they had rehearsed before specially for the event. It was such a magical thing to see and it gave a funny tingling feeling but he liked it.

"Wooow. It's so beautiful." he declared, never taking his eyes from the site. "They do this all the time?"

Sasuke stepped up closer to Naruto, also enjoying the dance of lights, "Yeah, always around this time."

"Why?"

"It's their mating call. They're looking for someone to mate with."

"Oh."

The show went on but Sasuke soon found himself drifting into his thoughts. He stole glances at Naruto wanting to see more of his sweet smiling face. Here was Naruto looking even more beautiful than a bunch of horny fireflies and he was stopping himself from doing what he really wanted to. He had had enough.

All this time he'd been stopping himself from claiming Naruto because he felt that there would be no going back from that point. He knew now that he was wrong. He chuckled softly to himself. How stupid he'd been. They'd passed that point long ago. From the moment he saved Naruto in the forest. It was at that moment that he felt a strong pull towards the human. He shrugged it off at first, convinced it was nothing of significance but the next day he found himself facing the boy's home deep within the forbidden human village. Even though he told himself over and over that he shouldn't, he couldn't resist the pull. He wanted Naruto from that very moment and even if the situation had not ended up like this he would have still pursued him. Naruto had already belonged to the demon. Sasuke cursed himself for being this slow to realize.

He glanced over at the boy beside him, who was completely in awe of the display before him. Sasuke watched as his eyes widened in wonder and shone brightly even in the dim light. There was already no turning back. There was already no letting go.

"Naruto."

With his name whispered so softly the teen almost didn't hear the call. He looked over at Sasuke smiling, this had been such a perfect day for him. He got to spend time with all his close friends and for once he got to fully enjoy a festival experience. Best of all he had Sasuke to share it with him.

He was soon wondering if said demon was alright. Sasuke was just..staring at him. The kind of stare that was making him feel very uncomfortable.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?"

The demon stepped closer to him, "Naruto, you can't ever leave me."

Before Naruto could even breathe a word of protest Sasuke had pulled him closer and pressed their lips together. Sasuke almost moaned at the contact. He was finally doing what he should have ages ago and it felt even better than he imagined. Naruto's lips were even softer than they appeared and sweeter than anything he'd ever tasted. He needed more.

Naruto however was wide-eyed shocked at what was taking place. He was well aware of the fact that his lips were making contact with another's but his brain wasn't able to put his thoughts into action yet. So he was frozen, unsure of what to do.

This was ridiculous. He'd been dreaming about this for days, hoping, wishing for it to happen and when it finally does he's frozen. He cursed himself. He wanted this, he needed this. His only reason for not having it before what the concern that Sasuke didn't want him but he did. Here he was, being kissed by the person he loved. Something he could only dream about before. There was no need to hesitate anymore.

Upon that discovery his body melted and his eyes fluttered closed. He pushed himself more into Sasuke, loving every moment. He was amazed to discover just how warm Sasuke's lips were. If it was possible he would have melted even more. His shaky fingers rose to grab unto the raven's shirt a subtle hint for Sasuke which the demon did pick up on. For he then ran his fingers into golden locks, massaging the other's scalp as they kissed. Naruto mewled at the feeling. His legs were getting weak so he used Sasuke's body to support him more.

Seconds passed before they slowly pulled apart but Sasuke's hold on Naruto never left. He looked down at the blonde, almost losing himself again when he saw his blushing cheeks. He leaned closer to his ear, not missing the way the blonde shivered when his lips brushed against it, "Do you understand what this means Naruto?" his voice was laced with seduction. "Demons mate for life. You can be with no other until I die. Do you accept?" Sasuke nibbled on his earlobe just to tease him.

The question was redundant, as Sasuke had already made the decision for Naruto but he wanted him to feel as if he had a choice.

"I-I do."

If Naruto had been facing Sasuke, the boy would have seen the sly grin the other made and the way his dark eyes changed to red.

"Then you are my mate, Naruto."

*******************************RESOLVE************** ***************************

**OMG that took forever but it's done and I'm proud of it. One could say that story really picks up after this but one could also say that the writer is making a lot of things up as she goes along. One would agree with the second one. **

**You know what to do. The big box below is for your thoughts. **

**P.S. Do not get too comfie with this long ass chapter. My other chapters will prob be back their normal length. **

**Ja ne. **


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